UNIVERSITY CENTER, Mich. - The Saginaw Valley
State University women's basketball team suffered a heartbreaking
loss to the Northern Michigan University Wildcats Saturday
afternoon (Jan. 23). The Lady Cardinals fell to the Wildcats,
69-67, in overtime. The loss drops SVSU to 4-13 overall on
the season with a 2-10 record in the GLIAC. Northern improves
to 12-5 on the year, with a 9-3 record in conference play.
SVSU led for much of the first half, holding a nine point
advantage twice in the frame, the last being at the 11:59
mark. The score would be tied at the 50-second mark in the
half, however, Northern Michigan's Steffani Stoeger made good on a
layup attempt as time expired to give the Wildcats a 29-27
advantage heading into the locker room.
In the second half, Northern held the lead until the 13:35 mark,
when SVSU took a one-point advantage at 40-39. The lead would
bounce back-and-forth from there until the score was tied for the
seventh time at the 3:32 mark at 57-57. The Lady Cardinals
led by two with 56-seconds left, but two free-throws by Northern's
Mariah Dunham knotted the game at 61, which is where the score
would remain heading into overtime.
In the extra frame, Saginaw jumped out to a two-point advantage
via a lay-up by senior guard Kelley Wesp
(Cincinnati, Ohio/Glen Este HS), making the score 63-61. The
Wildcats would take the lead and extend it to three with three
minutes remaining, but a key steal by Cardinal freshman Aysha Boston (Detroit,
Mich./Renaissance HS) set-up junior Brittany
Burkhardt (West Bloomfield, Mich./Walled Lake Central HS) for a
lay-up to cut the lead to one, at 68-67. Boston would record
another steal 30-seconds later, and was able to call timeout to
give SVSU a chance to take the lead. The Cardinals were
unable to connect, however, and a Wildcat free-throw made the score
69-67, which would become the final score as SVSU was unable to
get-off a desperation shot.
Burkhardt led the Cardinals in the contest, scoring 15 points
and grabbing a game-high six rebounds. Freshman forward Jasmine
Kennedy (Harper Woods, Mich./Grosse Pointe North HS) had 13
points. Junior forward Rhonda Gusa (Harbor
Beach, Mich./Delta Colege) also reached double-figures in scoring,
netting 10. Freshman guard Jasmine Woods
(Lansing, Mich./Holt HS) gave SVSU good minutes off the bench,
totaling eight points and a game-high six rebounds.
