Saginaw Valley State 76, Parkside 69
The second game of the Parkside Women's Basketball team's doubleheader at Saginaw Valley State was just as close as the first, but the Rangers found themselves on the other side of the win-loss column. Parkside was led by junior Alyssa Nelson, who finished with 28 points, five rebounds, and two assists on 8-of-11 (72.7-percent) shooting from the field and 5-of-8 (62.5-percent) from beyond the arc.
 
DOWN THE STRETCH
Saginaw Valley State was able to build a nine point in the second quarter that they looked to extend into halftime, until a quick five points from Nelson closed the half and cut the Cardinal lead to four.
 
Parkside used that momentum at the start of the second half to go on a 9-5 run to tie the game at 43, but Saginaw Valley State responded with a 10-0 run of their own to grab a 53-43 lead with just over a minute left in the third. At the start of the fourth, the Green & White were able to cut down the hosts' lead once again after a made free-throw capped a 10-2 run that brought the game to 55-53. A pair of threes then gave the Cardinals an eight-point lead that they never relinquished, going 12-for-12 from the line down the stretch.
 
HEAR FROM COACH CONELY
"Tough loss today against Saginaw Valley State," head coach Jen Conely said. "I like this back-to-back format – we need to find a way to play more consistently on consecutive days. I thought we lacked a sense of urgency on the defensive end and allowed them to get easy shots that helped them to get in rhythm."
 
"We need to take more pride in our ability to defend and will continue to work on that in practice," Conely continued. "Offensively, we put a lot of points on the board and the scary thing is that I don't think we've hit full throttle. It's hard to believe that we are halfway through the regular season – we have come a long way offensively and defensively, and the exciting thing is that we have so much room for improvement. We will get after it this week in practice as we prepare to host Ashland next weekend."

A LOOK AT THE BOX SCORE
Nelson's 28-point performance marks the third time she's scored over 20 this year. Two other Rangers hit double figures, with junior Hannah Plockelman finishing with 15 points and five rebounds, while senior Alexis Vaughn finished with 10 points, six assists, and six rebounds. The Cardinals were led by Kaitlyn Zarycki, who scored 18 points to go with five rebounds and five assists.
 
Despite losing the contest, Parkside outshot Saginaw Valley State, going 22-for-53 (41.5-percent) from the field, 8-for-23 (34.8-percent) from three, and 17-of-24 (70.8-percent) from the line while the Cardinals went 22-for-58 (37.9-percent) from the field, 12-for-35 (34.3-percent) from beyond the arc, and 20-for-21 (95.2-percent) from the line.
 
WHAT'S NEXT
Coming up, the Rangers will return home to host a doubleheader against Ashland, with game one scheduled for Saturday, Feb. 6 at 1 p.m., and game two slated for Sunday, Feb. 7 at 1 p.m.