UNIVERSITY CENTER, Mich. - The Saginaw Valley State University women's basketball team fell to GLIAC front-runner Wayne State University tonight (Feb. 9), 68-58.

The Lady Cardinals (10-11, 8-9 GLIAC) gained momentum early in the contest by connecting on seven of their first nine shot attempts, taking a 17-4 lead after six minutes of action.

However, Wayne State (15-5, 13-3 GLIAC) responded with an 11-0 run over the next four minutes of action as the Cardinals led 19-17 with 9:10 to play before halftime.

Saginaw Valley entered the halftime intermission trailing 29-26 after both squads were unable to get their offenses clicking during the final stages of the first half. The back-and-forth first half featured seven lead changes and three ties.

The Warriors ran out to a 14-point lead in the second half, but SVSU answered with a 9-2 run to cut the deficit to six (49-43) with 11:12 remaining.

Briana Graham (Detroit, Mich.) pulled the Cardinals within six points after she made an aggressive cut across the paint to get by the Warrior defender with 4:11 to play in the contest.

The Lady Cardinals were unable to close the gap down the stretch as the Warriors picked up the victory by a 68-58 margin to remain atop the conference standings.

In the second half, SVSU went just 11-for-31 shooting and were outrebounded 29-12 by the physical Wayne State lineup. On the night, the Cardinals shot 35 percent, while the Warriors managed 39.3 percent. The sub-40 percent shooting performance was just the second occurrence for SVSU in their last eight contests.

Freshman Emily Wendling (Flushing, Mich.) earned Meijer 'Player of the Game' honors with a team-high 15 points as she recorded double-figures for the 18th time in her first season.

Saginaw Valley will return to the hardwood Thursday (Feb. 14) at 8:00 PM when they play host to Northern Michigan University.