March 9, 2007
Box Score
Grand Valley State dropped a 66-59 decision to Gannon in the quarterfinals of the Great Lakes Region Tournament to end its season with a 21-8 overall record. The Lakers were the 2005-06 defending NCAA Division II National Champions and back-to-back Great Lakes Region Champions.
Gannon scored the first basket of the game, connecting on a jumper in the first five seconds of play. Senior center Julia Braseth was fouled on a shot in the paint, but was only able to connect on one free throw to make the score, 2-1. The Golden Knights went on an 8-0 run to jump out to a 10-1 lead with just over three minutes into the game. Braseth made a layup in the paint, but Gannon scored the next four points to go ahead, 15-3. Senior guard Erika Ryskamp scored the next seven points, to cut the lead to 15-10. A layup by junior guard Crystal Zick brought the Lakers to within three points, but Gannon pushed the lead back to six points, 20-14, with 8:35 left in the half.
Another layup by Zick made it a four point game with 6:28 remaining. Gannon hit a jumper to go ahead by six, but sophomore forward Jenny Steffen made a layup to cut the lead back to 24-20 at the 4:20 mark. The Golden Knights hit back-to-back three pointers and two free throws to go ahead by 12 points, tying its largest lead of the half with just 43 seconds left in the half. Cyplik drained a three-pointer with 23 seconds left to cut the Gannon lead to 32-23 at the half.
Ryskamp scored nine of the Lakers points in the first half, while Zick and Steffen each added four. Gannon shot 48.0% in the first half, while Grand Valley hit just 35.7% of its shots. The Golden Knights knocked down five three pointers in the opening 20 minutes of play. The Lakers forced Gannon to commit 12 turnovers, but had 11 of their own.
Grand Valley State opened the second half by scoring the first seven points, five of which were by Ryskamp to cut the Gannon lead to 32-30. The Golden Knights went on a 5-0 run to go ahead, 37-30 at the 17:01 mark. Senior guard Taushauna Churchwell hit a jumper to cut the lead to five points, but the Golden Knights drained another three-pointer to push their lead back to 40-32 with 16:19 left in the first half. Churchwell made a layup at the 13:17 mark to cut the lead to six points, but once again Gannon answered with four straight points to go up by 10 points, 48-38. Both teams went over two minutes without scoring and then they traded baskets to make the score 50-40. Braseth made a layup as she drove the baseline and Ryskamp knocked down two free throws to cut the lead to 50-44 with 7:49 left in the game.
Gannon scored four answered points to go back up by 10 points, but a three-pointer by Steffen at the 5:28 mark pulled the Lakers within seven points. Another Golden Knight three-pointer bumped their lead back to 10 points, but Cyplik answered with a three-pointer of her own to cut the lead to 60-53 with just 2:57 left in the game. The Lakers scored four out of the next six points to pull within five points, but Gannon connected on two free throws to go ahead 64-57 with just 36 seconds left in the game. Ryskamp drove down the court and hit a layup with 28 seconds remaining to cut the lead to five points.
Steffen committed her fifth foul to put Gannon at the free throw line with 27.4 seconds left. Tiffany Crocker missed the first shot of a one-and-one, but the Golden Knights tied up Zick to get the ball back. Zick fouled Crocker to put her back on the free throw line and she connected on both to put Gannon ahead 66-59 with just 18 seconds left. The Lakers missed three shots in the final 12 seconds of action and the Golden Knights held on the 66-59 win.
Senior guard Erika Ryskamp ended her career by recording 21 points, two assists, and two steals. Senior center Julia Braseth added 10 points and five rebounds and junior guard Erin Cyplik had nine points, five rebounds, two assists, and two steals. Sophomore guard Jenny Steffen posted a season-high nine points and added two steals. Senior guard Taushauna Churchwell had six points, two rebounds, two assists, and a steal in her final game as a Laker.
Ryskamp ends her career as the fifth leading scorer in Grand Valley history as she has tallied 1,409 points in her four year stint. Erika has knocked down 39.3% of her career three-pointers, which is the second best percentage in school history. She also ranks second in three-pointers made with 223 and her 198 career steals ties for fifth best in school history. Her 359 assists ranks sixth and her 276 free throws ranks ninth on GVSU's career leaders list.
Braseth has tallied 1,316 points in her four seasons, which ranks sixth on the all-time list. She has also pulled down 702 rebounds, which ranks ninth and her 315 free throws made ties for sixth best in school history. She has drained 51.5% of her field goals, which is eighth best. Churchwell's 125 games played tops the all-time list at GVSU.
