Lady Cardinals split Ohio weekend series

January 22, 2007 —

Sometimes, winning the rebound battle can be a bad thing.

The Lady Cardinals grabbed 18 offensive rebounds against Ashland on Saturday, but it was their poor shooting that allowed for the apparent advantage.

SVSU shot just 35 percent for the game and 31 percent in the second half, when the Eagles took a six-point halftime lead and extended it to a 76-61 victory.

The loss dropped SVSU back under .500 in the GLIAC, at 4-5. It was especially troubling because the team had come off a 82-61 rout at Findlay two days before.

In that game, nine players scored for the Cardinals, who set a team high for points this season.

Junior Brittany Burns set career highs with 24 points and eight rebounds, while senior Valerie Smith added 16 points and five rebounds.

Burns could not get her offense going in the loss at Ashland, though, and neither could her teammates. Burns went 5-of-17 from the field in scoring 17 points and added eight rebounds. Fellow junior LaTille Ross scored 16 points on 6-of-13 shooting, but Smith, junior Jenna Schroeder and sophomore Tricia Everett combined to shoot just 9-of-30 from the floor.

SVSU hosts Michigan Tech, which sits a game ahead of the Cardinals in the GLIAC North Division, on Thursday, and Northern Michigan, 2-8 in conference play, on Saturday.