HOUGHTON – The Saginaw Valley State University women's basketball team remained in the Upper Peninsula for another Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) North Division matchup against the nationally 11th-ranked Michigan Tech University Huskies on Saturday afternoon (Feb. 14) at the SDC Gymnasium. Michigan Tech's defense proved tough for the Lady Cardinals' offense to record its 13th-consecutive victory and remained unbeaten at home. SVSU outscored the Huskies in the second half, but it was not enough as Tech held on for the 53-42 victory.
Sophomore Emily Wendling got off to quick start, as she scored the SVSU's first seven points to give the visitors an early 7-3 lead over the Huskies at the 15:15 marker. The SVSU defense was stingy in the opening 4:20 as Michigan Tech started the game missing its first six field goal attempts.
The Huskies scored six straight points to take their first lead of the game at 9-7, but junior Alex Green's jumper tied the game at nine with 11:48 showing on the game clock.
The Huskies gained control of the lead again at 15-9 using another 6-0 run. Senior Samantha Zirzow stopped the run with a three-point play at the 6:09 mark to make the score 15-12 in the home team's favor.
With 3:15 on the clock, junior Danielle Carriere knocked down a pair of free throws to bring the Cards within five points at 19-14. MTU answered by scoring the final seven points of the half to take a 26-14 lead into the halftime break.
Wendling led the way in the opening 20 minutes with seven points and three rebounds. Zirzow chipped-in with three points, four rebounds and a pair of steals in the opening frame. The Cardinals shot 22.7 percent (5-22) from the floor but connected on 4-of-5 attempts from the charity stripe in the first half.
Freshman Jessica Alexander opened the second half with a bucket and a foul in the first minute to turn a double-digit deficit back to nine points at 26-17. The nine-point deficit was the closest SVSU could get the remainder of the afternoon.
The Huskies took a 41-27 advantage, but senior Briana Graham and Carriere connected on a pair of jumpers to cut the Husky lead down to 10 at 41-31 with just under nine minutes to play in the second half.
The Cards got within 10 points again at 45-35 following two freebies from Zirzow at the 4:51 marker. MTU scored the next eight of nine points to take its largest lead of the afternoon at 17 (53-36) with 1:23 showing on the game clock.
Carriere closed out the scoring by knocking down a pair of triples in the final minute to make the final score 53-42 in the Huskies' favor.
Danielle Carriere was named the Meijer "Player of the Game" as she was the lone Cardinal in double-figures as she poured-in 10 points. The junior had seven rebounds in the contest as well.
Alexander had eight points and a career-high eight rebounds. Zirzow netted nine points, including going a perfect 5-for-5 from the charity stripe. Wendling finished with seven points and six rebounds.
The Lady Cardinals held Michigan Tech to 34.4 percent (21-61) from the floor but only shot 31.9 percent (15-47) themselves. SVSU out-rebounded MTU by a 41-34 margin and scored 16 points off the bench compared to six for the Huskies.
Saginaw Valley returns to O'Neill Arena for its final home game of the 2014-15 season, as the Cardinals host the Grand Valley State University Lakers on Thursday (Feb. 19) evening. Tip-off is scheduled for 6:00 pm. Seniors Briana Graham, Samantha Zirzow and Shelby Herrington will be honored in a pre-game ceremony before their final home game in a Cardinal uniform.