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Printer-Friendly ModeLady Cardinals bounce back with win
January 17, 2005 —
The Saginaw Valley State University women's basketball ended a three game losing streak Saturday, Jan. 15 with a 66-52 victory over visiting Findlay.
SVSU opened the game playing a 2-3 zone defense with the emphasis on boxing out for rebounds. The defense was intense from the get go, something Coach Vonnie Killmer was trying to implement all week long during practices.
"We have to (box out), because we are so small," she said. "It's just something that we have to do."
Both teams played tough defense, making for a low-scoring first half. The Lady Cardinals led the Oilers 20-18 after 20 minutes.
Findlay also played a 2-3 zone defense, forcing the Cardinals to rely on outside shooting, something the Lady Cards are familiar with. Consequently, they shot 40 percent for the game.
Performing aggressive defense and hustling for loose balls was something the Cardinals did consistently the entire game. Turnovers also played a factor into the game, as Findlay ended the game with 23 turnovers, while SVSU had 21. Sloppy passes and traveling was a common factor that hampered both teams.
The second half opened with SVSU shooting considerably better, as they increased their lead by going on a 15-6 run during the first six minutes of the half.
"I just told them at halftime to take better shots," Killmer said. "We needed better shot selection and that's what we got. We ran our offense that way so the shot clock wasn't running us down."
Findlay tried for a comeback with five minutes remaining in the game, as they pulled the lead down to three. That was as close as they could get, as the Lady Cardinals were able to increase the lead back to ten with 2:30 left. SVSU never trailed during the game, and were tied with the Oilers once twice.
Sophomore Sara Bilunes led all scorers for the game with 21 points, while senior Jessica Wilson was right behind Bilunes and chipped in 19. Freshman Domonique Desira and Sophomore Lisa Collison each had a game-high ten rebounds.
The victory over Findlay was a sharp contrast to their game two days earlier against Ashland University, as their losing streak was extended to three games with a 91-50 home loss. The Cardinals, plagued with many injuries at this point in the season, only had eight players available to compete.
The Eagles jumped to an early 13-2 lead just seven minutes into the game, and increased it to 29-4 with a little over five minutes remaining in the first half. By halftime the scoreboard read 41-19.
Saginaw Valley could only muster a 25 percent shooting performance for the entire game. Leading the scoring for the Cardinals was Wilson, who scored 19 points and shot 50 percent from the three-point arch, going 6-of-12. Bilunes followed Wilson with nine points.
Desira and Sophomore Samantha Foggio each pulled down a team-high five rebounds.
The weekend split leaves SVSU with a record of 4-9 (1-6 in the GLIAC).
They return to action tonight at home against Davenport University at 6:30 pm.