Jan. 22, 2009

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Allendale, Mich. - Grand Valley State forced a hot-shooting Northwood team into 20.6 percent shooting in the second half and the Lakers came from behind to post a thrilling 68-64 victory on Thursday night (Jan. 22). With the win, GVSU runs its win streak to 11 straight games and ups its record to 14-2 overall with a 10-1 mark in the GLIAC.

In a meeting between two of the conference's top teams, both teams came out and shot very well in the opening half. Grand Valley State connected at a 46.4 percent clip (13-of-28) in the first half, but Northwood (12-4, 7-4 GLIAC) torched the nets for 58.6 percent (17-of-29) to hold a slim five-point advantage at halftime.

The Timberwolves jumped out quickly to a 12-5 lead before GVSU responded by scoring the next seven points including consecutive layups from senior forward Kim Wyngaard and a three-pointer from sophomore Elizabeth Van Tiflin. Northwood answered the Laker run with an eight-point spurt of its own, including two triples from guard Rachel Church.

Trailing 26-14 with 10:50 remaining, Grand Valley State went on a game-changing 14-0 run to get back into the contest. Freshman guard Emma Veach tallied seven points and a Wyngaard layup gave GVSU a 28-26 lead. Northwood, however, continued its strong shooting and closed the half on a 13-6 run.

In a game that saw the score tied nine times and 11 lead changes, the second half was clearly a back-and-forth affair. Grand Valley State held the Timberwolves scoreless for the first 7:59 of the second stanza and outscored NU 9-0 in that time to take a 43-39 lead. By the 10-minute mark, Northwood had regained a one-point advantage.

The teams traded buckets for the next few minutes, setting the stage for an interesting final few minutes. A three-pointer from Veach with 3:38 remaining gave the Lakers a 60-56 lead. Three Northwood free throws cut the GVSU advantage and a three-point play from Megan Starnes gave the Timberwolves their last lead of the game at 62-60 with 1:27 left.

From there, the Laker freshmen guards took over. GLIAC North Division Player of the Week Jasmine Padin, marred in a game-long shooting slump, nailed a pair of free throws to tie the game at 62-62. Less than a minute later, Padin drove the lane and knocked in a layup off the glass to give GVSU a two-point advantage. After a Northwood turnover, Veach drained a pair of free throws and the Lakers led, 66-62, with 18 seconds left.

Starnes answered for the Timberwolves with a layup to cut the advantage to two points with 10 seconds remaining. NU immediately fouled Padin, who stepped to the line and calmly sunk both free throws to put Grand Valley State ahead, 68-64. A Northwood three-pointer was rebounded by Veach and the Lakers prevailed with a big conference victory.

Despite a tough shooting night from the field, Padin led GVSU with 17 points (all coming in the second half), making all eight of her free throw attempts. Veach was right behind with 16 points and added eight rebounds and three assists.

Wyngaard was one rebound shy of a double-double, tallying 10 points and nine boards, while sophomore forward Kara Crawford added 10 points and four rebounds. Van Tiflin was one point shy of being the fifth Laker starter in double figures, as she notched nine points, six rebounds, four steals, and made all three of her field goals, which were all from three-point range.

The Lakers held Northwood to 7-of-34 shooting, including a 1-for-14 mark from three-point range. For the game, the Timberwolves shot 17.4 percent (4-of-23) from downtown and ended the game with a 38.1 percent figure from the field. GVSU connected on 41.7 percent of its shots and made 21-of-25 free throws (84.0 percent).

Grand Valley State returns to the hardwood on Saturday (Jan. 24) when they host Wayne State for a 1:00 p.m. matchup at GVSU Fieldhouse Arena.