Feb. 21, 2009

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ALLENDALE, Mich. - Senior forward Kim Wyngaard scored a career-high 22 points on Senior Night, but Grand Valley State dropped a 71-65 decision to Saginaw Valley State in the Fieldhouse Arena on Saturday. Sophomore forward Kara Crawford chipped in with a career-high 20 points in the loss.

Wyngaard filled up the stat sheet in the game, finishing with career-highs in points (22) and steals (5), while also recording six rebounds and one block. Crawford grabbed four rebounds, two steals and one assist to go with her career-high 20 points.

Despite the career numbers from the two post players, the Lakers struggled against a hot-shooting SVSU team that hit 56.9 percent of its shots from the floor and 81.8 percent from the free throw line. Conversely, the Lakers shot 39.1 percent from the floor, including a 10.7 mark from the three-point line. GVSU missed all 19 of its three-pointers in the second half.

Crawford and SVSU's Kelsey Mausolf traded baskets to start the game, and then Wyngaard drilled a three-pointer to make the score 7-4 2:26 into the first half. Freshman guard Emma Veach made back-to-back layups to give GVSU a five-point lead, 13-8 at the 15:24 mark of the half. She finished the game with 13 points, eight rebounds, six assists and two steals. Wyngaard's second three-pointer of the game put the Lakers up by seven points, 23-16, with just more than nine minutes remaining in the half.

The Cardinals stuck around and eventually tied the game at 26-26 on a layup by Brittany Burkhardt with 5:13 left in the opening stanza. The SVSU forward finished with a game-highs in both points (24) and rebounds (9). Saginaw Valley State earned its first lead since the early minutes of the contest with two free throws by Burkhardt at the 4:43 mark. A three-pointer by Kelly Wesp with 2:46 left in the half gave SVSU a five-point lead, which would be the margin at the half. Tricia Everett, who scored 18 points and dished out 10 assists, hit a jumper with 40 seconds left in the first to send the teams into the locker room with SVSU up 40-35.

Once again, the teams traded baskets in the opening stages of the half, and it wasn't until 3:24 into the second half that GVSU climbed to within one after two free throws by Veach. A layup by Veach at the 15:45 mark of the second half gave the Lakers a momentary lead, but Burkhardt re-established the Cardinal lead with a layup 13 seconds after Veach's.

The Cardinals continued to exert pressure and extended their lead to eight points, 57-49, on a Burkhardt layup with 10:58 left in the game. SVSU had its biggest lead of the day, 10 points, occur at the 6:53 mark with a layup by Jenna Saarela and then again at the 5:16 mark with two free throws by Mausolf. The Lakers weren't done, and climbed back to within two points, 67-65, on a Wyngaard jumper with 2:13 left in the game. That was as close as they would get, as Burkhardt made four consecutive free throws to close the game 71-65 in favor of the Cardinals.

Grand Valley State (18-7, 14-6 GLIAC) will take to the road for its final two regular season games. The Lakers take on Wayne State on Thursday, Feb. 26 and Northwood on Saturday, Feb. 28.