UNIVERSITY CENTER, Mich. – The Saginaw
Valley State women's basketball team defeated the Ferris
State Bulldogs today (Jan. 10), 68-63, for their first conference
victory of the season.
The Cardinals appeared to have their work cut out for them against
the smothering defense the Bulldogs' played in the opening
half, but SVSU managed to break the full court press, and put 34
points on the scoreboard as the half ended knotted at 34-34. Senior
point guard Tricia Everett (Saginaw, Mich.) scored nine points to
lead the Cardinals, while freshman guard Marah Kyle (Bluffton,
Ind.) tallied seven in the opening half.
The Cardinals went 13-for-30 (43.3 percent) in the opening half,
and hit 7-of-9 from the charity stripe.
In the second half, the Cardinals got into foul trouble early on
as the Bulldogs went to the bonus in less than 10 minutes in to the
stanza, and fell behind by as many as five in the last 10 minutes,
but managed to battle their way back with a timely three-pointer by
Kyle with 3:29 remaining to put the Cardinals behind by two. On the
ensuing inbounds, the Bulldogs fouled Everett, sending her to the
line where she notched one-of-two free throws to pull Saginaw
Valley within one. Kyle then sank a two-pointer to take the lead
with 2:19 left in regulation. After the Bulldogs sank a foul shot
to tie the game at 63-63, Kyle drove through the lane, sank a
lay-up and was fouled and converted the three-point play to go up
66-63. Sophomore guard Kelley Wesp added two free throws with about
20 ticks left on the clock to end the scoring. Wesp ended the game
with 16 points.
The Cardinals shot 14-for-22 (63.6 percent) from the field in the
second half, while Ferris only managed to knock down 29.4 percent
of their second half shots. Kyle led all scorers with 22 points on
9-of-13 shooting (69 percent), 15 of which came in the second half.
Everett knocked down 14 points and 10 assists for the
Cardinals.
The win snaps a 10-game losing streak for the Cardinals and puts
them at 2-11 overall, and 1-7 in the GLIAC, while the Bulldogs fall
to 3-8 overall and 1-6 in the GLIAC. Saginaw Valley State will
return to action at 6 p.m. Thursday (Jan. 15) when they host Wayne
State University in conference action at the James E.
O'Neill, Jr. Arena.
