SAULT ST. MARIE, MICH. - The Saginaw Valley State University women's basketball team (13-10, 8-5 GLIAC) traveled to take on the Lakers of Lake Superior State University (5-17, 2-12 GLIAC) on Thursday, February 9, 2023. The Cardinals ran away with the game in the second half to keep them at fourth in the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference standings.
The first quarter got off to a slow start for both teams with the first point coming from Tyler Scheid at the line for SVSU. The two teams would then trade baskets for the ensuing possessions until the Cardinals went on a 11-0 run midway through the period. Tori DePerry capped off the period burying two free throws putting her at seven points through the quarter with 37 seconds remaining. SVSU led 16-10 after the first.
The second quarter started with a quick 4-0 run by the Lakers until Kaitlyn Zarycki answered with a layup of her own. The next possession DePerry swatted the ball out of bounds and allowed for the Cardinals to set their defense to prevent the next two shot attempts from Lake Superior State from finding the bottom of the bucket. The Lakers would crawl back into the game tying it up with two minutes remaining in the half before Tyler Scheid answered with a shot from downtown that put the Cardinals back on top. Jessica Massey would make one more layup before ending the half and send SVSU to the locker room with a three-point lead.
Starting the second half for the Cardinals, Tori DePerry hit a spin move in the post to extend the lead before the Lakers would answer with one of their own. From then on, the third quarter was all Cardinals, going on a 12-2 run that was kickstarted by Jessica Massey on the defensive end of the floor with a quick steal and three-point bucket on the other end. The Cardinals had the Lakers to just six points in the third giving them a 15-point lead into the final period.
In the fourth quarter, SVSU was outscored but managed to keep the game close enough as they coasted to victory. The Cardinals rounded out the night winning by 11 points, 57-46 keeping them in strong playoff position for the end of the year. SVSU forced 20 turnovers on the night in an outstanding defensive effort while only giving up 10 turnovers as a team. Both teams scored 32 points in the paint and the Cardinals managed to score 20 points off of those turnovers
UP NEXT
The women's team is set to take on Ferris State University in a crucial playoff positioning game this Saturday, February 11th in Big Rapids, Michigan.
