Lady Cardinals Fall At Hillsdale, 75-57 1-28-10

HILLSDALE, Mich. -  The Saginaw Valley State University women's basketball team lost to Hillsdale College Thursday night (Jan. 28), 75-57.  The loss drops the Lady Cardinals' record to 4-14 overall with a 2-11 record in the GLIAC.  Hillsdale improves to 8-9 overall on the season, holding an 8-5 record in conference play.  

The Lady Cardinals started the opening half in front, going up by as many as seven points twice in the first 20 minutes, the second being when SVSU extended its lead to 29-22 after a three-pointer by senior forward Jenna Saarela (Saugatuck, Mich./Michigan Tech) at the 6:22 mark.  Hillsdale would bounce back and score 12 un-answered points to take a 34-29 lead.  The Chargers' lead was only six with 13 seconds left, and a lay-up by Cardinal freshman Grace Herzog (Linden, Mich./Powers Catholic HS) with three seconds left cut Hillsdale's lead to four, where it would stand at the half, with the Chargers leading, 38-34.  Herzog had 10 points in the first half for Saginaw, while junior forward Brittany Burkhardt (West Bloomfield, Mich./Walled Lake Central HS) had seven points and seven rebounds.

In the second half of play, Hillsdale would extend its lead to as much as 12, with 13:11 left in the game.  The Lady Cardinals would trim that lead down to six at the 7:32 mark, when the score stood at 59-53.  The Chargers, however, would once again increase their advantage, and used a Janay Miller jumper at the buzzer to close-out the 18-point victory.

Burkhardt recorded her fourth double-double of the season, scoring 11 points and grabbing 10 rebounds against the Chargers.  Herzog finished with 12 points, four rebounds and four blocks.  She now has a GLIAC-leading 57 blocks on the season.  Senior guard Kelley Wesp (Cincinnati, Ohio/Glen Este HS) had 11 points, including going 6-for-6 at the charity stripe.  Freshman forward Jasmine Kennedy (Harper Woods, Mich./Grosse Pointe North HS) also recorded 11 points in the contest, making it the sixth-straight game she has posted double-figures in scoring.  SVSU will be back in action at the University of Findlay on Saturday (Jan. 30) for a 1:00 pm match-up.  Findlay won the first match-up between the two teams earlier this year, a 69-61 victory on Dec. 3 in University Center, Mich.