HOUGHTON, Mich. -- Eight made three-pointers by the Michigan Tech women's basketball team were not enough to overcome 20 turnovers and a minus-12 rebounding margin in a 68-54 loss to Saginaw Valley State this afternoon at the SDC Gym. The loss was the Huskies' first in conference play this year.

"You can't expect to win when you commit that many turnovers and get out-rebounded like that," said head coach John Barnes. "We defended well enough and made a decent percent of field goals, but the turnover and rebounding factors were the difference."

An 11-0 run by the visiting Cardinals early in the first half led to a 14-5 advantage. Danae Danen's layup at the 6:16 mark cut the gap to five points before SVSU ended the half on a 14-3 run for a 34-18 edge at the break.

Saginaw Valley maintained a comfortable margin until midway through the second half when Tech made four buckets in five trips down the floor. Katie Zimmerman knocked down back-to-back three-pointers as part of that run to get the Huskies within 54-43 at the 7:44 mark. The Cardinals scored the next nine points for another 20-point lead to put the game out of reach.

Sarah Stream scored a team-high 15 points for MTU. Zimmerman added 11 points. Both players made three three-pointers in the contest. All eight other available Tech players played and scored in the game.

SVSU scored 20 points off of Tech turnovers and had 21 more second chance points. The Cardinals also had a 38-26 rebounding advantage with the help of 16 offensive caroms.

Michigan Tech (5-3, 3-1 GLIAC) will have a week off before hosting Findlay at the SDC Gym next Saturday (Dec. 16) at 3:30 p.m.