UNIVERSITY CENTER, Mich. - The Saginaw Valley State University women's basketball team traveled to Houghton, Mich. for a 2014 Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) Tournament Quarterfinals matchup with Michigan Tech University. After holding a three point halftime lead and a late lead in regulation, the Lady Cardinals couldn't hold on and suffered a 69-63 season-ending overtime loss to the Huskies.
It was the second-straight overtime game for SVSU, as the Cards clinched a spot in this year's postseason conference tournament with an overtime victory at Ferris State University on March 1st.
Rebounding and defense was key in the opening 20 minutes for Saginaw Valley, as the visitors posted a 22-21 edge on the glass and forced Tech into 11 first half turnovers.
A Kristen Greene jumper at the 17:52 mark gave the Cards a 5-3 advantage and after a brief Tech lead, SV knotted the game at 7-7 on a Danielle Carriere jumper with 14:20 left in the half.
With the Huskies holding a 16-9 advantage, the Lady Cardinals scored seven in a row to tie the game once more, this time at 16 points-apiece after a pair of Greene jumpers and three free throws by junior Samantha Zirzow.
As Michigan Tech led by a score of 22-18 with 3:49 left in the half, SVSU ended the period on a 7-0 run to make the score 25-22 going into halftime.
Greene had a game-high eight first half points while Zirzow added seven. Both teams struggled from the floor in the first half, as SVSU shot 31.2% (10-32) and Tech 26.9% (7-26).
The Huskies would score first in the second frame, knotting the score at 25-25. From that point forward, SVSU would hold the lead until MTU took the lead at 48-47 with just 4:46 left to play.
The largest lead the Cards would hold was when the score was 47-40 after a layup by senior Kayla Womack. Tech used an 8-0 run to take the one point lead.
The two teams wouldn't be separated by more than four points for the rest of regulation. With just 20.1 seconds left on the clock, sophomore Katelyn Carriere made a pair of free throws to give SVSU a 56-54 lead, marking her first points of the evening.
Tech's Jillian Ritchie would grab an offensive rebound and make good on a layup with 5.3 seconds left to play, tying the game at 56-56.
The Cardinals went down the court and Katelyn Carriere got a last-second shot off, but it missed and the two teams headed into overtime to decide who would move on to the semifinal round.
Four consecutive Danielle Blake points would give Michigan Tech a 60-56 lead with 3 minutes and 12 ticks left to play.
Saginaw Valley trailed 62-57, but back-to-back layups from Womack trimmed the deficit to 62-61 at the 1:41 marker.
After the Huskies missed a couple of shots and got the rebounds, they finished off the possession with a triple to take a 65-61 lead. The possession took 1:18 off the clock, which proved to be detrimental to SVSU's chances.
Four more MTU freebies wrapped around two from SVSU's Greene would make the final score 69-63.
Womack and Green were selected as the co-Meijer "Players of the Game" following their efforts in their final collegiate contest. Womack posted a team-high 15 points with six rebounds while Greene had 14 points and a team-high nine boards. Greene added four assists and two steals as well.
Zirzow also reached double-figures in scoring, netting 13 points and four rebounds. Junior Shelby Herrington chipped-in with seven points and a team-high nine rebounds.
SV held a 30-18 edge in points in the paint despite being out-rebounded by a mark of 49-43.
The loss puts the Lady Cardinals' final record at 14-12 for the 2013-14 season. SVSU qualified for the GLIAC Tournament in consecutive years for the first time since the 1997-98 and 98-99 seasons. The 12-10 GLIAC mark gave SV the most league wins since the 98-99 season.
The squad graduates only two players (Womack & Greene) from this year's team and will welcome 2012-13 GLIAC "Freshman of the Year" Emily Wendling back, as she missed the entire season due to injury.