ALLENDALE, Mich. – The Saginaw Valley State University women's basketball program had their final road game of the 2024-25 regular season Saturday afternoon as they traveled to No. 4 Grand Valley State. The Cardinals (13-13, 7-11 GLIAC) fell to the Lakers (27-2, 17-1 GLIAC) by a score of 93-56. Although SVSU came out on the losing end, so did the Davenport Panthers which clinches a playoff berth for Saginaw Valley.
Megan McCalla tied with Abrie Cabana of GVSU with 16 points to lead both teams in scoring. McCalla also hauled in eight rebounds, tying a career-high and set a career-high in assists with five. Aleshia Jones and Ava Locklear followed in scoring with 13 and 12 points respectively. Lydia Meredith was just behind with nine. Jones also led the team with three steals and had a block to match Locklear's one block. Saginaw Valley improved in the shooting department since their last meeting with the Lakers, finishing with a 40.0% field goal percentage. The rebounds game was close with GVSU taking it 30-25.
The Lakers jumped out to a 17-3 lead early on taking advantage of their three-point shooting. SVSU cut into the lead a bit but Grand Valley kept it at double digits, heading into the second with a 24-12 lead. Locklear, McCalla, and Meredith all scored a pair in a 6-0 run to start the second as the Cardinals cut the Laker advantage to five. That would be the closest Saginaw Valley would make it as GVSU extended their lead to 15, up 42-27, as the first half concluded.
The second half showcased some runs for SVSU, but Grand Valley kept the foot on the gas. The Lakers outscored the Cardinals 24-12 in the third and 27-17 in the fourth. In the third, every bucket for Saginaw Valley was met with two more for GVSU as they extended their lead to 66-39. Lainey Yater hit a three and Jones made a layup to start the fourth with a 7-2 run. A 6-2 run with Jones scoring five of those points cut the Laker lead to 21. Down the stretch, Grand Valley kept extending their lead until a layup with 18 seconds left put them up 93-56, their largest lead of the game being 37.
Up Next: Saginaw Valley wraps up the regular season at home. They host Lake Superior State on Thursday, February 27 at 5:30 PM and Ferris State for senior day and breast cancer awareness day on Saturday, March 1 with tip-off set for 1:00 PM EST. Heading into the final week, SVSU is eighth and would head to Grand Valley for the first round of the GLIAC tournament. Winning both games could give the Cardinals a chance to take seventh if Michigan Tech loses both of their contests, which would match Saginaw Valley up with Northern Michigan in the first round.