UNIVERSITY CENTER, Mich. - Lake Superior State women's basketball was unable to find an answer during the opening 10 minutes in a 62-45 loss at Saginaw Valley State on Thursday nights.

The Lakers (3-12, 2-7 Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference) found themselves trailing 19-4 after the first quarter, due in large part to nine turnovers during the opening 10 minutes.

Tamara Novic and Natalie Peterson were the only Lakers to score in the first quarter with both hitting two-point shots. The Lakers shot 2-for-9 (22.2 percent) from the floor during the quarter.

Novic, a senior from Belgrade, Serbia, led the Lakers with 17 points and five rebounds in 27 minutes of reserve duty. Junior Mackenzie Edwards also chipped in 13 points and six rebounds to lead the Lakers on the boards.

The Cardinals (10-4, 7-2 GLIAC) opened with a 12-2 run, led by Emily Wendling's six points and four points from reigning GLIAC North Division Player of the Week Katelyn Carriere.

Wendling finished with a double-double thanks to game-highs of 20 points and 12 rebounds, while Carriere netted 15 points. Carriere's older sister, Danielle, came off the bench to score eight points and hauled in eight rebounds in 25 minutes of work.

The Lakers fought back in the second quarter to cut the deficit to 11 points before halftime thanks to 3-of-6 shooting from behind the three point line. April LaCross, starting in her second consecutive game, hit both three pointers attempted during the quarter for six points. LaCross finished with eight points in the game.

The ball protection was much better for the Lakers in the second half, only committing four turnovers, but the cold shooting continued. LSSU could only hit on 9-of-23 (39.1 percent) of shots from the field and hit 22.2 percent of their second half three pointers.

For the game, the Cardinals shot 41.4 percent (24-for-58) and won the rebounding battle 38-24.

The Lakers travel to Hillsdale on Saturday for a 1 p.m. tip-off. A free video stream of the action is available at hillsdalestreaming.sidearmsports.com/watch.

Following the games on Saturday, the LSSU Alumni Association is teaming up with LSSU's Admissions office to host a post-game social at Johnny T's Bistro on South Street in Hillsdale. There will be free appetizers and Laker themed prize drawings. Event hosts are Alumni Director, Susan Fitzpatrick '87, Todd Capling '06 and Admissions Advisor, Dennis Niles '90.