UNIVERSITY CENTER, Mich. - The Saginaw Valley
State University women's basketball team hosted Grand Valley State
University in a GLIAC North Division match-up on Saturday night
(Feb. 20). The Lady Cardinals defeated the second-place
Lakers by a score of 71-51 to extend their winning-streak to three
games.
SVSU first gained the lead at the 17:44 mark in the opening half
on a layup by junior forward Brittany
Burkhardt (West Bloomfield, Mich./Walled Lake Central HS) to
give the Cards a 4-2 lead. The Lakers would gain a one-point lead
at the 9:59 mark, when the score was 14-13 via a jumper by
sophomore Kelly Kretz. GVSU would hold one more lead the rest
of the half, another one-point advantage with 8:42 left in the
first 20 minutes.
The Lady Cardinals would hold a 10-point lead with six seconds
left after freshman forward Grace Herzog (Linden,
Mich./Powers Catholic HS) made a tough layup to make the score
31-21. The following in-bound pass would be stolen by SVSU
freshman guard Aysha Boston (Detroit,
Mich./Renaissance HS), who was good on a layup to seal a 12-point
halftime lead at 33-21, SVSU's biggest lead of the half.
Burkhardt led Saginaw in the opening period, scoring 10 points
on 3-of-5 shooting. Herzog had six points, six rebounds and
two blocks. Herzog's second block gave her 71 on the season,
which breaks the previous SVSU single-season record of 70, set by
Jennifer Hagstrom in the 2003-04 season. Boston and fellow
freshman guard Jasmine Woods
(Lansing, Mich./Holt HS) each added five points in the first frame.
SVSU opened the second half on a 13-2 run before GVSU would cut
the lead to 44-24 when Kretz made one of two freebies. The
Lady Cardinals would lead the rest of the way in a game where they
shot 49% from the field compared to GVSU's 32%, and 27% from three
while holding the Lakers to 6% from beyond the arc.
Burkhardt led the offensive attack, scoring a season-high 31
points and grabbing five rebounds. Herzog had 10 points,
seven rebounds and six blocks. She now has 75 blocks on the
season. Freshman forward Jasmine Kennedy
(Harper Woods, Mich./Grosse Pointe North HS) also reached
double-figures in scoring, netting 10 points and grabbing five
rebounds for Saginaw.
SVSU moves to 7-18 overall on the season with a 5-15 GLIAC
record, while Grand Valley falls to 17-8 overall, holding a 14-6
league record for the 2009-10 season. The Lady Cardinals will
be back in action this weekend, as they take a trip through the
Upper Peninsula to take-on Northern Michigan Thursday (Feb.) 25 in
a 5:30 pm contest before taking-on No.3 Michigan Tech on Saturday
(Feb. 27) for a 1:00 pm tip-off time.
