UNIVERSITY CENTER, Mich. - The Saginaw Valley State University women's basketball team opened its 2013 Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) slate with a 69-64 home victory over the Ohio Dominican University Panthers.

The first half was a closely-contested one, as the largest lead came at the end of the half when Ohio Dominican led by four points.  The opening 20 minutes featured seven ties and four lead changes.  The Panthers were able to carry that four-point advantage into the break with the score 34-30.

The Cardinals shot 30.0% from the floor in the opening half while the Panthers made good on 40.0% of their shots.  

Both teams were even on the glass, with each grabbing 23 rebounds.

Senior guard Kristen Greene led SVSU in the opening half with nine points and three rebounds.  Junior forward Samantha Zirzow added eight points and a pair of offensive rebounds.

ODU opened the second half with a 9-0 run to grab an 11-point lead with the score 43-32 at the 16:29 mark.

Saginaw Valley used a mini seven-point run on a triple from Greene and two field goals from sophomore guard Katelyn Carriere, cutting the deficit to 43-39 with 15:30 left in the game.

The Cardinals worked all the way back to knot the score at 47-47 at the 10:36 marker after another good three-pointer from Greene.

The game would be tied for the 11th and final time at 53 points-apiece with 6:43 left after a jumper from Zirzow.

SVSU took and extended a lead out to six points after that, but led by only a single point with 1:22 left to play.

The Cards scored four more points and held down the Panthers, closing-out for a five point victory at 69-64.

Greene had team-highs of 20 points and seven rebounds for SV and was named the Meijer "Player of the Game."  She was 6-of-14 from the floor and 2-of-3 from beyond the arc.

Zirzow scored 12 second half points and finished the game with 18 to go along with five rebounds.

Sophomore guard Alex Green provided a spark off the bench for the Lady Cardinals, posting five points, six rebounds, three assists and two steals in 23 minutes of action.

SVSU finished with a slight edge on the glass, out-rebounding the Panthers by a 47-45 margin.

With the victory, SVSU improves to 3-1 overall on the season and 1-0 in the GLIAC while the Panthers fall to 3-2 overall and 0-1 in league play.

Saginaw Valley is back in action on Saturday (Dec. 7), as it hosts Tiffin University in a 1:00 pm matchup.