The women’s basketball team was on the offensive Wednesday, defeating the Marygrove Mustangs 103-45 in the team’s home opener. The win boosted the Lady Cardinals’ record to 2-1.

Head coach Jamie Pewinski said that despite a 17-day layoff since their previous game, the team came out ready to play.

“I thought we played pretty disciplined and solid defensively the entire night,” she said. “After such a long break, we had some cobwebs to dust off, but once we settled into the game we were really aggressive and attacked the basket well.”

SVSU dominated the game early and often, jumping out to a 17-point lead within the first 14 minutes of the first half behind the play of upperclassmen Briana Graham, Kayla Womack and Samantha Zirzow. Going into the locker room at the half, the Cardinals possessed a 22-point lead, their largest of the half, and would not relinquish the lead in the second half.

In the second half, the Cards turned their already outstanding play up a notch, finishing the half with 60 points scored.

Pewinski said her team performed much better in the second half of play.

“In the second half, I thought we moved the ball a lot better and didn’t settle for jump shots,” she said. “Our effort at the defensive end allowed us to push the ball in transition and we were able to get some easy looks.

“But when it’s all said and done, we took good shots and made them and just out worked them.”

The second half of play also saw SVSU demonstrate how much young talent the team possesses. Freshmen Mikayla Slim and Abby Schlicher both scored their first career points to help the Cardinals come away with the 58-point win.

Sophomore guard Katelyn Carriere led the team with 17 points while adding four steals. Graham was second in scoring with 15 points. The junior forward also led the team in rebounds with 10 combined. Another junior forward, Shelby Herrington, did her part coming off from the bench, adding 13 points and pulling down seven rebounds. Senior guard Kristen Greene played unselfishly, leading the team with seven assists.

Statistically, the Cards dominated the Mustangs across the board. SVSU shot 50 percent of its field goal attempts. It also dominated in the paint, out rebounding Marygrove 48-35 leading to 21 second chance points and outscoring them inside 46-14. The Cardinals also benefited from some sloppy play for the Mustangs, as the Cards were on the winning side of the turnover battle, 26-11. Taking advantage of these chances was a must and SVSU did just that, scoring 35 points off from the turnovers.

Pewinski said it was a team victory and that the team looks forward to beginning its Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) schedule.

“Everyone was able to get some quality minutes,” she said. “Most importantly, we came out of the game healthy and look forward to getting the conference season started.”

Next up for the lady Cardinals is a home contest against Ohio Dominican. The game will be 6 p.m., Thursday, Dec. 5.  Ohio Dominican will come in with a 3-1 non-conference record.