UNIVERSITY CENTER, Mich. - The Saginaw Valley State University women's basketball team had four players reach double-figures in the team's 83-64 home victory over Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) opponent Tiffin University on Saturday afternoon (Dec. 7).
After a quick lead from Tiffin to start the game, SVSU took the advantage and extended its lead out to seven points at the 15:03 and 14:41 markers on layups from senior guard Kayla Womack and sophomore guard Katelyn Carriere.
The teams would trade buckets and the Dragons trimmed the Cardinal lead to a single point as late as the 2:53 mark in the first half.
Another Womack layup capped-off a mini 6-0 run to push the lead back to seven with the score 34-27 before Tiffin rattled-off five straight points to cut the lead to 34-32. A three point play from junior forward Samantha Zirzow and a buzzer-beating layup from Womack off a steal gave SVSU a quick five points in the final 19 seconds, helping them carry a 39-32 lead into the halftime break.
The Lady Cards held a 43.8% to 40.0% advantage in shooting percentage in the opening 20 minutes of action. They out-rebounded the Dragons by a 39-32 margin and were 11-of-12 from the free throw line in the first half. Both teams combined to go 0-of-11 from three-point range.
Carriere led all scorers in the opening half, scoring 16 points while Womack added a dozen points. Zirzow had nine points and led all rebounders with seven.
Saginaw Valley extended its lead to 16 points when back-to-back triples from senior guard Kristen Greene made the score 58-42 with 14:42 left in the game.
The Lady Cardinals held the lead for the remainder of the game, leading by as many as 22 points with just 4:56 left when the score was 76-54 and closed-out strong for the 19 point victory, 83-64.
Carriere had a game-high 23 points for SVSU while Womack had 22 points and five assists, earning Meijer "Player of the Game" plaudits.
Greene added 17 points for Saginaw Valley and Zirzow posted her first double-double of the 2013-14 season, scoring 12 points and grabbing a game-high 11 rebounds.
The Cardinals finished with a slim 43-41 edge on the glass and finished the contest shooting an even 50.0% from the floor (32-64). They were solid from the charity stripe, making good on 15-of-17 foul shots.
The victory marked SVSU Head Coach Jamie Pewinski's 100th-career victory at the NCAA Division II level. It was her 23rd win at the helm of SVSU's program after compiling a 77-61 career record at fellow GLIAC school Lake Superior State University.
With the win, Saginaw Valley improves to 4-1 overall on the season and a perfect 2-0 in the GLIAC while the Dragons fall to an even 3-3 overall and 0-2 in league play. SVSU returns to action on Monday, December 16th, as it travels to Ashland University for the first of a two game swing through Ohio. Tip-off for that game is set for 5:30 pm.