Wildcats Whip Lady Cardinals

UNIVERSITY CENTER -- Saginaw Valley State University gave No. 12-ranked Northern Michigan University an early first-half battle, but the Wildcats flexed their muscles in the last six minutes of the half a cruised to a 93-64.
     SVSU led by as many as eight points early and held a 28-27 lead with 6:13 left in the first half before the visitors woke up with a 21-4 run and led 48-35 at halftime.
     The Cardinals never threatened in the second half. The Wildcats quickly built their lead to 22 points with 12:24 left in the game.
     NMU shot 59.6 percent from the floor, while the Cardinals hit 50 percent. The Wildcats had big advantages in three other critical areas.
     SVSU continued to have turnover problems with 29, compared to 17 for NMU, and was outrebounded 27-23. The Wildcats also made 26 of 35 free throws, while the Cards hit just 11 of 17.
     Senior Jill Herbig (Hamilton) continued to pace SVSU with 22 points, but sophomore Natalie Novick (Chicago, IL/Mother McAuley) was the only other Cardinal in double igures with 10 points and a team-high six rebounds off the bench. Novick had only seven points in her first 21 collegiate games.
     Northern Michigan got 27 points from Jill Gobert on 10 of 13 floor shooting, and 23 points from Sasha Leverentz. Carrie Dykstra added 14 points.
     Northern Michigan is 14-2 overall after its third straight win loss and leads the GLIAC North Division with a 9-1 record. The Cardinals dropped their second straight to fall to 8-9 overall and 4-6 in the North Division.
     SVSU faces five straight games on the road, beginning next Saturday at Lake Superior State University at 1 p.m.

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