Feb. 10, 2007

Box Score

Findlay, Ohio - #12 Grand Valley State was upset by Findlay, 66-65, on Saturday afternoon in front of a crowd of 1,750 at the Croy Educational Center. Findlay's Brittany Wells knocked down two free throws with one second remaining to give the Oilers the one-point win. GVSU falls to 18-5 overall and 11-3 in GLIAC action, while Findlay improves to 5-19 and 1-13 in conference play. Grand Valley State will travel to Michigan Tech on Wednesday, Feb. 14 at 5:30 p.m.

Findlay jumped out to an early 8-5 lead, but senior guard Erika Ryskamp hit a three-pointer at the 17:03 mark to tie the game. The Oilers went on a 10-1 run to take an 18-9 lead with 12:02 left in the half. Grand Valley cut the lead to nine points, 20-11, but Findlay pushed the lead by back to 12 points (25-13). Five straight points by junior guard Crystal Zick cut the Oiler lead to 25-20 with 5:29 left in the first half. At the 2:52 mark, junior forward Erin Cyplik knocked down a three-pointer to cut the lead to two points. Two free throws by senior guard Taushauna Churchwell tied the game for just the second time in the half, however two free throws and a jumper by Megan Sellers gave Findlay a 34-30 halftime lead.

Grand Valley took a 35-34 lead as it scored the first five points of the second half on a layup by senior center Julia Braseth and a three-pointer by Zick. The two teams went back and forth over the next few minutes and a jumper by junior guard Courtney Hammond tied the game for the fifth time (44-44). Three straight layups, two by sophomore guard Kim Wyngaard and the other by Cyplik, gave the Lakers a six point, 50-46 lead. Findlay went on a 9-0 run to take a 53-50 lead with 9:28 left in the game. A Cyplik layup and a Braseth free throw tied the game at 53-53, but Findlay regained the lead, going ahead 57-56. Ryskamp hit a three-pointer at the 6:11 mark to put the Lakers ahead 59-57. Findlay tied the game at 59-59 on a jumper at the 5:52 mark. Neither team scored for over two minutes until Findlay hit a jump shot to take a two point, 61-59 lead. Another Ryskamp three-pointer gave GVSU a 62-61 edge, but Jennifer Beekman of the Oilers hit a three-pointer to put them up, 64-62. Ryskamp knocked down her third straight three-pointer to give the Lakers a 65-64 lead with 1:58 left in the game.

Braseth missed a jumper with 17 seconds left and Findlay came down and missed a shot of its own. Megan Sellers pulled down an offensive rebound and went back up with it, but a foul was called on the Lakers prior to the shot. Findlay received the ball back with 0.4 seconds left on the clock. Brittany Wells fired off a quick shot and a foul was called on Ryskamp with 0.2 second remaining in the game. Wells knocked down both free throws to give the Oilers the 66-65 victory.

Senior guard Erika Ryskamp tallied 17 points, five rebounds, three assists, and two steals. She connected on 4-of-7 three pointers, including three in the last six minutes of action. Junior forward Erin Cyplik recorded 15 points and tied her career-high with 11 rebounds, while junior guard Crystal Zick added 14 points, three assists, and two rebounds. Senior center Julia Braseth posted nine points and three rebounds and senior guard Taushauna Churchwell had four points, five rebounds, and three assists. Sophomore guard Kim Wyngaard tallied four points, two rebounds, and a steal.

Findlay forced the Lakers to commit 18 turnovers and scored 21 points off of GVSU's miscues. The scored was tied nine times during the game and the lead changed 16 times. The Oilers also tallied seven more assists and 32 bench points to the Lakers six.