GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – The Saginaw Valley State University women's basketball team opened GLIAC play with a strong road performance on Thursday night, using a dominant fourth quarter to knock off Davenport 68–64 at the Davenport Student Center.
The Cardinals (2-4, 1-0 GLIAC) trailed after each of the first three quarters but came alive late, outscoring the Panthers (0–6, 0–1 GLIAC) 23–13 in the fourth behind attacking drives, key defensive stops, and excellent free-throw shooting.
Lydia Meredith (Portland, Mich. / Portland St. Patrick's HS) powered the Cardinals with 19 points, hitting 9-of-13 at the line while adding five rebounds, six steals, and five assists. Megan McCalla (Chelsea, Mich. / Chelsea HS) scored 16 points on 5-of-9 shooting and grabbed six rebounds before fouling out, while Lauren Borsenik (Hemlock, Mich. / Hemlock HS) added 11 points and nine rebounds inside. Bella Paradowski (Melbourne, Australia / CRC Sydenham) provided a spark off the bench with 10 points, and Kaitlyn Geurink (Hamilton, Mich. / Hamilton HS) chipped in nine.
SVSU opened the game with good pace and early post touches, but Davenport responded with an 8–0 run in the first quarter and took a 21–12 lead after 10 minutes. The Cardinals steadied themselves in the second, with Geurink and McCalla converting at the rim and Meredith creating offense off the bounce. SVSU trimmed the deficit throughout the quarter and went into halftime down 37–29 after a 9-1 run to end the half.
The Cardinals continued to chip away in the third. A three from Lainey Yater, plus steady scoring from Meredith and McCalla, helped SVSU close the gap to 51–45 entering the fourth. That's when the Cardinals took over. McCalla opened the quarter with a layup, and Meredith followed with a steal that led to a McCalla layup to put the Cardinals ahead 52-51. Paradowski powered in two straight baskets, and Geurink hit a pair of big free throws to give SVSU the lead. Meredith sealed the win at the line, knocking down three of the last four tries from the charity stripe.
Head coach Jenny Pruett had this to say about Meredith and the team after the win,
"She wants to win so bad and when you're led by a senior who's like that, it's really easy to get on board and everybody got on board and fought for her and fought for this win. GLIAC is tough no matter who you play. I'm just really proud of them. It's a gutsy win and they played hard. It was a physical game and I'm really proud of them."
SVSU shot 45.8% (22-of-48) from the field and outscored Davenport 40–30 in the paint. The Cardinals also won the rebounding battle 41–25 and knocked down 23-of-30 free throws. Defensively, they turned 17 Davenport turnovers into 20 points. The Panthers shot 39.2% overall and 4-of-17 from three.
Up Next: Saginaw Valley head back to the west side of the state on Saturday, December 6 to play the defending national champions in No. 1 Grand Valley. The Cardinals and Lakers tip off at 1:00 PM from the GVSU Fieldhouse in Allendale, Mich.
