HAMMOND, Ind. – The Saginaw Valley State University women's basketball team kept its postseason hopes alive Thursday evening with a pivotal road victory at Purdue Northwest, moving one step closer to clinching a spot in the GLIAC Tournament. The night was made even more special as Megan McCalla (Chelsea, Mich. / Chelsea HS) surpassed the 1,000-point mark for her collegiate career.
McCalla led all players with 24 points and eight rebounds. Her milestone basket came early in the second quarter, marking her eighth point of the night and pushing her past 1,000 for her career. Lydia Meredith (Portland, Mich. / Portland St. Patrick's HS) once again filled the stat sheet with 11 points, five rebounds, four assists, and six steals. With her five boards, Meredith reached exactly 500 career rebounds. Lauren Borsenik (Hemlock, Mich. / Hemlock HS) added 11 points and impacted the game across the board with four rebounds, two assists, two blocks, and a steal. Kaitlyn Geurink (Hamilton, Mich. / Hamilton HS) scored 16 points on an efficient 7-of-9 shooting night, while Bella Paradowski (Melbourne, Australia / CRC Sydenham) rounded out five Cardinals in double figures with 12 points and six rebounds.
Saginaw Valley set the tone early, jumping out to a 12-4 lead behind six quick points from Geurink. Meredith knocked down the Cardinals' first three-pointer of the night, and McCalla helped push the tempo as SVSU built a 19-14 advantage after the first quarter.
The second quarter proved decisive. The Cardinals outscored Purdue Northwest 24-6 in the frame, opening with an 11-2 run that featured seven points from McCalla. After the Pride trimmed the margin with four straight points, they were held scoreless over the final six minutes of the half. SVSU closed the quarter on a 13-0 run to take a commanding 43-20 lead into the break.
Borsenik opened the third quarter with a three-pointer as part of a 6-0 run that extended the lead to 27. The Cardinals stretched the advantage to 31 points — the largest of the game — on three separate occasions in the period. Emma Dziezgowski (Bethel Park, Pa. / Bethel Park HS) connected from deep to make it 64-33, Chloe Kilbride (Perrysburg, Ohio / Perrysburg HS) followed with an offensive rebound and putback to push it to 66-35, and Geurink later converted a pair of free throws to match the 31-point margin. Purdue Northwest edged SVSU by one point in the fourth quarter, but the Cardinals had six different players score in the final frame, with Paradowski leading the way with eight points.
With the victory and a Lake Superior State loss, Saginaw Valley now sits tied with Davenport for eighth place in the GLIAC standings and holds a one-game lead over the Lakers. The Cardinals own the tiebreaker over the Panthers but not Lake Superior State, meaning SVSU must match or better the results of both teams on Saturday to secure the final tournament spot.
Lake Superior State travels to Purdue Northwest, Davenport hosts Ferris State, and Saginaw Valley heads to Wayne State for the regular-season finale. A Cardinal win — or all three teams suffering losses — would clinch the eighth seed and a berth in the GLIAC Tournament for SVSU. The Cardinals and Warriors tip-off at 1:00 PM at the Wayne State Fieldhouse in Detroit.