The Hillsdale College women's basketball team hung tough on the road at Saginaw Valley State on Friday night, but couldn't overcome offensive struggles in a low-scoring 52-47 loss to the Cardinals.

Hillsdale never trailed by more than eight points and were within one or two possessions of the lead for most of the night, but shot just 34.8% from the floor with 19 turnovers and were never able to turn the game in their favor in the second half.

The game was low-scoring from the start, with both teams locked in defensively. Sophomore Savannah Smith scored seven straight points for the Chargers between late in the first quarter and early in the second, and fellow sophomore Annalise Pietrzyk hit back-to-back 3-pointers to give Hillsdale a 19-15 advantage with 4:57 remaining in the half. It was the Chargers' largest lead of the night, and the last time Hillsdale would be out in front as Saginaw Valley State ended the half on a 15-3 run to take a lead the Cardinals would never relinquish. 

Although SVSU came out of the break with a chance to blow the game wide open, Hillsdale dug in and refused to let the Cardinals pull away, keeping it a six-point lead or less for SVSU for essentially the entire second half. The Chargers got close but couldn't capitalize to pull ahead, and SVSU was 4 for 4 from the line in the final two minutes to keep Hillsdale from finding an opening to steal the game late. 

Smith and Pietrzyk both had huge nights to lead the Chargers, with Smith finishing with 17 points to finish one off her career high, and Pietrzyk setting a new career-high with 15 points as well as five rebounds and two assists. Kendall McCormick added eight points, four rebounds and two steals for the Chargers, and Lauren McDonald chipped in five points, six rebounds and a team high three assists.

Hillsdale (2-2) will look to bounce back next week as the Chargers return home to face another in-state foe from the GLIAC in Wayne State on Wednesday at 5:30 p.m.

Photo by Kenneth Gaudet