ADRIAN, Mich. -- The Siena Heights women's basketball team defeated Michigan-Dearborn, 65-46, in a WHAC contest, on Saturday.

The Saints left the first half leading by only six points, 29-23. SHU picked up the intensity, holding the Wolverines to five points in the third quarter, while the Saints went on a 21-5 streak that lead to victory.

There was a shift in play and momentum after halftime. The Saints added more defensive pressure and found the posts inside. Coach Sue Syljebeck comment on the change, "After going one for nine behind the three-point line, we had to get the ball inside....We have two of the tallest [post] combinations in the league, us and Davenport, and sometimes we just don't take advantage of that." 

"A least when we shot poorly, we had 23 offensive rebounds. And Lauren Wirth with 18 rebounds, that's pretty impressive and she crashed the boards pretty hard." Syljebeck added about Wirth's performance. Wirth finished the night with a game-leading 18 rebounds and added nine points.

April Watson led the Saints in points with 15 points, adding nine boards. Jaaliyah Arrington put-up 12 points and earned 4 assists for SHU.

For the Wolverines (0-12, 0-7), Emily Heinrich was the leading scorer with 14 points.

Overall, the Saints shot 26-67 (38.8 percent) from the floor, 5-16 (31.3 percent from three-point land and 8-16 (50.0 percent) from the free throw line. Michigan-Dearborn shot 15-48 (31.3 percent) in field goal attempts, 5-23 ( 21.7 percent) in three-point attempts and 11-18 (61.1 percent) in free throw attempts.

Siena Heights (6-5, 3-4) will be on the road for the Roosevelt Holiday Hoops Classic, Dec. 21-22. The Saints' first game will be against Governors State (Ill.) at 7:30 p.m. CST.