WESTVILLE, Ind. – The Saginaw Valley State University women's basketball team put together a furious rally late against No. 1 seed Michigan Tech in the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Postseason Tournament semifinals Friday in Westville, Ind.
The Cardinals trailed by 14 points at the half and were down nine early in the fourth quarter. SVSU kept pushing and cut the deficit to as little as two mid-way through the fourth. The GLIAC regular-season champion Huskies held on late and escaped, topping the Cardinals 78-74.
The loss ends SVSU's season with a record of 10-10 overall.
With just under seven minutes to play in the second quarter, Kaitlyn Zarycki hit a 3-pointer to put the Cardinals up 32-29. The Huskies closed the half on an 18-1 run to take control. SVSU chipped away in the second half and Zarycki cut the Michigan Tech advantage to 66-64 with 4:34 left on the clock.
Michigan Tech held off the SVSU rally the rest of the way to move on to the GLIAC Tournament title game on Sunday.
Zarycki led the way for the Cardinals with 29 points on 11-of-17 shooting, adding eight rebounds and two steals. Maddie Maloney finished with 22 points on 7-of-11 shootings, while Tori DePerry added 12 points off the bench.
The Cardinals shot 28-of-59 from the field, 7-of-19 from deep, and 11-of-13 at the line, finishing with 10 assists, three steals, and 13 turnovers.
Ellie Mackay led the Huskies with 25 points, while Jordan Luescher added 20 points.
