UNIVERSITY CENTER, Mich. – The Saginaw Valley State University women's basketball program hosted Wayne State Thursday evening. The Cardinals (12-11, 6-9 GLIAC) fell to the Warriors (15-8, 10-5 GLIAC) by a final score of 71-68.
SVSU shot 51.9% from the floor and 47.1% from the three but lost by three points in a nailbiter against WSU. Saginaw Valley totaled 12 steals on the 16 Warrior turnovers as well. Meijer Player of the Game, Megan McCalla, led all scorers with 25 points shooting 10-16 from the floor and 3-3 from beyond the arc. Aleshia Jones had 19 points and had four assists, two steals, and a block. Lydia Meredith totaled five rebounds, six assists, four steals, and two blocks as well. Ava Locklear led with nine rebounds and had nine points, four steals, and two assists as well.
Wayne State stormed ahead in the first quarter starting with a 7-0 run. Locklear responded with a free throw followed by a layup to get the first points for Saginaw Valley. A 12-0 run for the Warriors extended their lead to 19-3 as they took control of the first quarter. Jones hit back-to-back shots as WSU took a 22-7 lead into the second. The Cardinals responded with a 22-point quarter of their own. SVSU turned turnovers into points with 12 at the halftime break. A 10-2 run started the second quarter with threes coming from Saniaa Walker and Jones and a bucket a piece from Jones and McCalla. An 8-2 run ended the half as Saginaw Valley cut the Warriors lead to 36-29 heading into the break.
The third quarter was the best for SVSU outscoring WSU 25-11, flipping the seven-point deficit into a seven-point lead. A 7-2 run with a three from McCalla to make it 40-36 Wayne State. Four threes to end the quarter sandwiched a Warrior layup and was capped off by a Jones block transitioning to a buzzer beater three put the Cardinals ahead 54-47. Wayne State responded in the fourth, taking advantage of free throws as the teams traded one-point leads multiple times. The last six points from Wayne State were all at the charity stripe as they took a three-point lead and Saginaw Valley missed a three at the buzzer to tie.
Head coach Jenny Pruett had this to say after the loss,
"Any game against Wayne State is going to be tough and we got down by a lot in the first quarter and took a lot to get back into the game. I'm very proud of the way they [the team] fought to get back and take the lead. To be down 16 points and fight back to take the lead shows a lot about our character."
Up Next: Saginaw Valley heads to Roosevelt on Saturday to start the final road trip of the regular season. The Cardinals and Lakers tip-off at 2:00 PM EST from the Goodman Center in Chicago, Illinois.
