The Saginaw Valley women’s basketball team fell to No. 5 Drury University 67-55 in the Round of 32 in the NCAA Division II National Tournament.
The team did defeat Lewis University in the tournament’s opening round, but saw its season come to an end against the Panthers.
The team’s final record for the 2016-2017 season was 23-8.
Earlier in the week, senior forward Emily Wendling and Katelyn Carriere were awarded with individual honors. The teammates were both named to the All-GLIAC First-Team for the season. Carriere was also named to the GLIAC All-Defensive Team.
“I’m extremely proud of this team and the effort they have put in all season,” head coach Jamie Pewinski said. “It’s very difficult to say goodbye to our seniors, but there is so much for us to be thankful for. It’s been an incredible two-year run where we reaped the rewards of the hard work that started six years ago. We are grateful for everything these seniors have given to us and done for us, and we will put those lessons learned to good use as we continue to build this program.”
Against Lewis, SVSU won 70-66, moving to the round of 32 for the second straight year.
The Cardinals were in full control heading into halftime with a 38-26 lead. Lewis came out of the break strong and outscored the Cards 25-17 in the third quarter before the teams stalemated in the fourth quarter, each scoring 15.
SVSU shot 38 percent from the field, while the Flyers shot 45 percent. As a unit, the team shot 26-28 from the free-throw line compared to Lewis’ 9-16.
Carriere led the team in scoring with 22. The senior guard shot 5-12 from the field and 9-10 from the charity stripe.
Wendling scored 14 points and grabbed a game-high eight rebounds. The senior forward went 6-7 from the free-throw line.
Sophomore forward Halee Nieman also scored 14 points, and sophomore guard Anna Hall had six points, seven assists and four rebounds.
Sophomore forward Abby Duffy added eight points and six rebounds off of the bench.
After the game Carriere acknowledged the team’s struggle in the second half.
“Going into the fourth quarter, our main focus was defense,” Carriere said. “Finishing every defensive possession with a rebound was huge for us. We knew that it was going to come down to who can get stops and execute offensively.”
The Drury Panthers were able to keep the Cardinals at bay for most of their regional semifinal matchup, en route to a 12-point win. As a unit, SVSU shot 41 percent from the field and 22 percent from beyond the arc. The Panthers shot 48.1 percent from the field. Both teams attempted 13 free-throws with SVSU making 11 compared to Drury’s 10.
The Lady Cardinals jumped out to a two-point lead in the first minute of play before Drury took over, leading for the rest of the game.
Drury outscored the Cardinals in the paint 40-30. SVSU turned the ball over 27 times, giving the Panthers 21 points off turnovers.
Wendling led the team with 14 points. Hall added 10 points and six rebounds.
Carriere scored 12 points in 39 minutes. She also added four assists. Carriere ended her career 10th on the all-time point list with 1,408 points. She is also second in career three-pointers made with 161.
