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Printer-Friendly ModeLate rally earns victory
November 15, 2010 —
In 2009, the Cardinals had a tough time finishing out close games.
That wasn’t a problem in the 2010 season opener, as SVSU defeated Lewis, 75-70.
Lewis led 39-34 at halftime although SVSU showed resiliency by outscoring Lewis by a 41-31 margin in the second half.
Three Cardinals were in double digits in points, with senior forward Brittany Burkhardt leading the way with 17 points. Sophomore guard Jasmine Kennedy had 16 points while sophomore forward Cheritee Green, a transfer student from Central Michigan had 15 points in her first game as a Cardinal.
SVSU led by as many as 11 points in the first half although the Flyers scored nine points off four Cardinal turnovers in the final 9:14 to go in the locker room with the lead.
In the second half, SVSU tied the score at 41-41 with 18:43 to play after a Kennedy three-pointer although Lewis responded and eventually regained the lead by as many as six points.
With 3:29 to play, the Cardinals took their first lead since the 7:27 mark of the first half. After Green grabbed a rebound on the defensive end, junior guard Marah Kyle made a layup to give the Cardinals a 67-65 lead. The Cardinals led from that point on en route to earning the five-point victory.
While the Flyers were able to keep within reach of the Cardinals by converting on 16-19 of their free throw attempts, the Cardinals struggled from the charity stripe, making only 6-14 of their attempts.
The two teams reversed the shooting trend from the field, as the Cardinals were able to shoot 45.6 percent from the field, compared to only 36.4 percent for Lewis. SVSU did one better from beyond the arc, knocking down 7-20 three-point attempts compared to only 6-20 for Lewis.
Limiting their turnovers and getting rebounds has been something coach Shannon Baugh has stressed entering her third season. Against Lewis, the Cardinals held a 45-43 rebound advantage although they turned the ball over 13 times, with Lewis committing 11.
Green added 18 rebounds to give her a double-double. Sophomore center Grace Herzog had a solid allaround game with nine points, nine rebounds and four blocks. Kyle added four assists and Burkhardt had six rebounds.
Despite dropping all three of its exhibition contests by at least 20 points, the Cardinals came ready to play against Lewis.
The Cardinals look to get a winning streak started when they travel to Indianapolis Wednesday for a 7 p.m. contest in their only game of the week.
SVSU returns home Dec. 2 when Lake Superior State comes to town for an 8 p.m. start in what will be the Cardinals opening game of GLIAC play.