MARQUETTE, Mich. - The Saginaw Valley State University women's basketball team lost its first game in almost a month on Thursday (Feb. 13), falling on the road to the Northern Michigan University Wildcats in a Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) North Division contest after holding a late lead.
The Lady Cardinals fall to 12-8 overall for the 2013-14 season and 10-7 in the GLIAC. The Wildcats improve to 15-7 and 12-6 in league play.
SVSU held a 7-2 lead at the 17:34 mark of the first half. That's where senior guard Kristen Greene hit a jumper to increase the Cardinal lead to four points, pushing her over the 1,000-point plateau for her career. She entered the game just one point shy at 999 career points.
A jumper from junior forward Shelby Herrington with 11:21 left in the half gave Saginaw Valley a 15-12 lead. Northern then scored seven in a row to grab a 20-15 advantage at the 8:18 marker.
A three-pointer from freshman forward Grace Whelan, the first of her young career, with 2:41 left gave the Cards the lead back at 24-22. The teams traded buckets and the score was tied at 26-26 with 1:53 remaining in the first period. Greene then made a shot just before time expired for the half, giving her 10 points for the period while sending SVSU to the locker room with a 28-26 lead.
Greene was 5-of-8 shooting in the first 20 minutes of play, adding seven first half rebounds. Saginaw Valley out-rebounded NMU by a 21-17 margin and held a 44.4% to 33.3% edge in overall shooting percentage.
After the Wildcats knotted the score quickly at 28 points-apiece to begin the second frame, a jumper from sophomore guard Katelyn Carriere gave SV a 30-28 lead, a lead it would hold all the way until there was 2:57 left in the game, leading by as much as nine points at 54-45. Northern would respond, going on a 9-0 run which was capped-off by a triple from Annie Rubendunst that tied the game at 54-54.
The Lady Cardinals bounced-back with a 6-0 run, grabbing a 60-54 lead with just 55 seconds left after jumpers from Greene and junior forward Samantha Zirzow and a pair of freebies from Carriere.
Two more Carriere free throws with 38 seconds left gave SV a 62-57 lead.
A Lauren Gruber layup cut the lead to 62-59 before Greene would connect on just the front end of two free throws to make the score 63-59.
The Wildcats grabbed the rebound off the second shot, taking it down court and using a triple from Gruber to make the score just 63-62 in SVSU's advantage with 22 seconds left.
After a Northern timeout, a turnover and pair of fouls by the Cards put Gruber at the foul line with eight seconds left. She made it seven-straight points scored for her team by making both shots from the charity stripe, giving the home team a 64-63 advantage.
With plenty of time left to get a shot off, Greene got a look, but her jump shot missed with two seconds left and a Northern rebound ended with game with the Wildcats still holding on to the 64-63 lead.
Greene was named the Meijer "Player of the Game," posting 15 points and a game-high 10 rebounds while netting her third double-double of the season. She added a team-high four assists, one steal and one block.
Carriere connected on 5-of-10 shots and 2-of-4 from downtown for 16 points, adding seven boards. Zirzow also finished in double-digits scoring, posting 12 points while adding six rebounds, three assists and a steal.
Saginaw Valley finished with a 42-36 edge on the glass and out-shot the Wildcats 45.3% to 36.9%. Northern posted a 36-18 advantage in points in the paint.
The Lady Cardinals travel on to play the Michigan Tech University Huskies on Saturday (Feb. 15) for a 1:00 pm contest in Houghton, Mich. Saginaw Valley won the earlier matchup between the two teams this year, a 63-62 victory that was won on a Herrington buzzer-beater.