The Saginaw Valley State University women’s basketball team came up just short of a major upset this past weekend over powerhouse Wayne State University, ranked eighth in the nation. The Lady Cardinals lost 76-73, failing to get a shot off at the buzzer.
Wayne State started the first half by jumping out to 8-0 lead before senior Samantha Zirzow nailed a free throw to end the run nearly five minutes in. Senior Shelby Herrington began a run for SVSU, bringing the score to 11-8.
A triple shortly after the halfway mark in the period gave the Cardinals their first lead of the day. Points from Zirzow and freshman Jessica Alexander kept the lead at four, the largest lead of the game for the team.
Wayne State did not let the deficit affect them, and the team battled back to end Saginaw Valley’s hot run before knocking down a three pointer to take a four-point lead into the half.
Wayne State began the second half by continuing their success in the paint, taking off on a seven-point run. A pair of three’s stopped the run, bringing the Cards back to within one. Wayne responded quickly, putting eight more points on the scoreboard.
The Cardinals found themselves down by 10 with 90 seconds left. Emily Wendling responded for the team, with the sophomore scoring five in 18 seconds.
WSU struggled to close, failing to knock down free throws in the final minute. The missed shots kept SVSU in the game, pulling to within three with 15 seconds left. The Cards pushed the ball up court quickly, but were unable to take a shot before time expired.
“We have players that want to win, we don’t question that, but wanting to win and doing what it takes to win for 40 minutes are two totally different things,” head coach Jamie Pewinski said.
“We saw that these players are ready to fight and do what it takes to be successful.”
Zirzow led the Cardinals for the majority of the game, finishing with 16 points and eight rebounds. Junior Danielle Carriere added 14 points, along with 13 from both Wendling and Green.
SVSU’s weekend started strong with a 68-62 victory over the University of Findlay.
Saginaw Valley jumped out to an early lead, with Carriere and Alexander leading the team on a 12-0 run. Green added a three of her own to make the score 17-6, SVSU’s largest lead of the half.
The two teams exchanged runs back and forth, ending with the Cardinals on top by a point at the half.
Findlay continued its run to begin the second half with eight straight points. A three pointer pushed the away team’s lead into double digits, their largest lead of the game.
“I needed to get the team refocused on the defensive end,” coach Pewinski said. “We were trying to limit the three-point attempts they were getting and we had to make better decisions on when to help on drives.”
The team responded to their coach and began to chip away at the lead. With just under four minutes left in the game, the team took away the Findlay lead for the final time, tying the score at 57.
Green knocked down a three to give the Cardinals the lead, and free throws led the team to victory.
Carriere led the team with 16 points in the game, with all five starters hitting double-digits in points.
Pewinski explained, “Every starter made huge contributions and having all of them in double figures is probably what needs to happen for us to win games.”
“For a few of them it was their best all around game and we look forward to them taking another step forward in the upcoming weeks.”
Saginaw Valley will be on the road for their next matchup against Lake Superior State University, with tipoff at 5:30 p.m. in Cooper Gym.