Jan. 10, 2009

Box Score

Sault Ste. Marie, Mich. - Grand Valley State erased a nine-point halftime deficit on the road at Lake Superior State on Saturday (Jan. 10) before dominating the second half on the way to an 80-68 win. GVSU outscored LSSU 50-29 after intermission to push its winning streak to seven straight contests and up its record to 10-2 overall with a 6-1 record in GLIAC play.

After dropping their first conference game of the season on Dec. 1 against Ferris State, the Lakers have rattled off six consecutive wins against league opponents. Lake Superior State falls to 10-6 overall with a 3-5 conference mark. Grand Valley State's seven-game win streak is the longest since the 2006-07 season when that Laker team won seven consecutive games from Nov. 30 to Dec. 19.

GVSU jumped out to a fast start on Saturday, taking a 14-6 lead less than five minutes into the game, as junior Lauren Buresh knocked down a jumper to give the Lakers the early advantage. Lake Superior State briefly re-gained the lead at 17-16 on a three-pointer from Nicole Marshall with 10:39 remaining. Grand Valley State would respond with a 12-2 run over the next two minutes, including back-to-back three-pointers from freshmen Kelly Kretz and Jasmine Padin. A jumper from sophomore Kara Crawford with 8:28 left put GVSU on top, 28-19, and gave the Lakers their biggest lead of the first half.

Lake Superior State would then hold Grand Valley State scoreless for the next seven and a half minutes while putting up a 17-0 run of its own. When GVSU finally scored again with 53 seconds left in the opening half, LSSU had taken the lead, 36-30. The home team capped off the first half run with a three-pointer from Allison Jaynes to open a nine-point advantage at halftime.

This is the second straight game Grand Valley State has trailed at the half and only the third time this season that the Lakers did not lead at intermission. They were 1-1 in previous contests. While GVSU shot 52.2 percent (12-of-23) in the opening 20 minutes and made five three-pointers, Lake Superior State connected at a 68.0 percent clip (17-of-25) and also drained five triples.

Nine seconds into the second half, Laker senior forward Kim Wyngaard knocked down a trifecta, but LSSU scored four straight points to take its biggest lead of the game at 43-33. Grand Valley State would begin to chip away at the lead. Trailing 49-40, GVSU scored 11 straight points, including a three-pointer from Padin and consecutive triples from fellow freshman Emma Veach. Wyngaard followed with a jumper to put Grand Valley State back on top.

The back-and-forth affair saw Lake Superior State leading 61-59 when Veach nailed a jumper with 6:59 remaining and was fouled. She converted the old-fashioned three-point play, GVSU was ahead by one point, and the visitors would not trail again in the game. LSSU got as close as 69-66 with just over three minutes remaining, but Veach hit a jumper and Grand Valley State took care of business at the free throw line.

GVSU knocked down 9-of-10 attempts at the charity stripe in the final 2:08 to seal the victory and close the game on a 19-7 run to secure the victory. Grand Valley State connected at a 92.9 percent mark (13-of-14) at the free throw line for the game.

Veach was tremendous in the second half, scoring 23 of her game-high 25 points after the intermission. The freshman tied a career-high with her 25 points, shooting 8-of-11 from the floor and knocking down both three-pointers she attempted and all seven free throws. Veach added four assists, four rebounds, and a pair of steals.

Three other Laker starters scored in double figures. Padin totaled 13 points, five assists, four rebounds, and a career-high four steals. She drained three of GVSU's season-best nine three-pointers. Crawford tallied 13 points and five boards, while Wyngaard added 13 points and four rebounds.

Grand Valley State held a fourth straight opponent under 70 points and are allowing just 60.3 points per game this season. The Lakers again won the rebounding battle, securing 34 boards to LSSU's 24 missed caroms. GVSU turned 13 offensive rebounds into 19 second chance points, while Lake Superior State mustered just eight points in the same category.

GVSU returns to action on Monday (Jan. 12) for a 6:00 p.m. game at Ferris State. The Bulldogs are the last team to defeat the Lakers and the only visiting team to win at Fieldhouse Arena this season. FSU knocked off GVSU, 74-64, on Dec. 1.