March 1, 2003

Box Score

Allendale, Mich. - Grand Valley State advanced to the GLIAC Tournament semifinals for just the second time in school history with a thrilling 76-68 overtime victory Saturday (3/1) over Northern Michigan in Allendale, Mich. Grand Valley State will play Hillsdale College Friday (Mar. 7) at 8 p.m. at Lake Superior State. LSSU will play Wayne State in the first semifinal. GVSU improves to 23-5 overall, while Northern Michigan falls to 16-10.

Northern Michigan jumped out to a 7-0 lead to open the contest, but the Lakers quickly regrouped and tied the contest at 9-9. The teams traded buckets until the score was tied at 14-14 when the Lakers went on a 16-0 scoring run to increase the lead to 30-14. NMU did not score from the 12:18 mark until the 6:42 mark when Jessica Nohl hit a layup, while GVSU's Diana Voikos scored seven points and Julie Zeeff six in the run. Northern Michigan went on a 15-6 run of its own over the final 6:42 and cut the Laker lead down to 36-29 at the half.

The Wildcats slowly chipped away at the Laker lead and finally took a lead of their own (63-62) on a Tiffany Grubaugh layup with 4:52 remaining the game. GVSU's Laurie Rehmann tied game on a free throw with 4:29 left and Zeeff gave the Lakers the lead (65-63) on a layup with 3:36 left in the contest. NMU's Emily Samuels hit two free throws of her own to tie the game once again with 2:25 left. Neither team scored again in regulation, however, both teams had good looks at the basket in the closing minute. NMU's Grubaugh took the final shot in regulation, but was unable to get it down.

Grand Valley State dominated overtime, outscoring the Wildcats 11-3 in the extra session to pull out the win. NMU was 1-9 from the field in OT, while the Lakers were 3-6 from the floor and 5-6 from the charity stripe. GVSU's Julie Zeeff notched a double-double with 22 points and 12 rebounds, while Laurie Rehmann added 17 points, eight assists and five caroms. Jennifer Nielsen added 11 points, six assists and six rebounds, while Cori Jewett chipped in 10 points and six rebounds. GVSU forced NMU into 22 turnovers, while the Lakers tallied 12 steals.

Grand Valley State's 23 wins ties the school record for wins in a single-season. GVSU was picked to finish fourth in GLIAC North Division preseason coaches poll. Zeeff broke her own single-season record for blocked shots with her four versus NMU, giving her 84 on the year.