UNIVERSITY CENTER, Mich. – Down one with seven seconds remaining, the Saginaw Valley State University women's basketball earned an opportunity to split a season-opening two-game series with Grand Valley State University Saturday at the James E. O'Neill Arena.

The Cardinals failed to get a game-winning shot off, turning the ball over with 1.7 seconds remaining. SVSU was able to force a turnover on the ensuing inbound and had one final shot with less than a second play, but the home team was unable to get a shot up, falling to the Lakers 50-49.

The loss drops SVSU to 0-2 overall and 0-2 in Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference play this season.

SVSU trailed 49-45 in the closing minutes before Maddie Maloney earned a pair of trips to the line, hitting four clutch free-throws to tie the game. GVSU (2-0, 2-0 GLIAC) took possession late and Rylie Bisballe was fouled whe shooting. She went to the line for the Lakers with seven seconds to play, splitting the pair to give GVSU the lead and eventually the victory.

Kaitlyn Zarycki led the Cardinals with 12 points, including six in the game's opening minutes. She was 5-of-15 from the field and added seven rebounds. Maloney recorded 10 points and five rebounds.

SVSU shot 18-of-57 (31.6 percent) from the field, 5-of-22 (22.7 percent) from deep and 8-of-11 (72.7 percent) from the line. The Cardinals finished with eight assists, six steals and 19 turnovers, while winning the rebounding battle 39-30.

The Lakers were led by Emily Spitzley with 18 points and 12 rebounds for a double-double. GVSU shot 18-of-53 from the field, 3-of-17 from deep and 11-of-17 from the line.

The Cardinals hit the road for the first time this season to open a two-game series with Northern Michigan University starting at 1 pm Saturday, Jan. 16, in Marquette, Mich.

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