Jan. 8, 2009

Box Score

University Center, Mich. - Grand Valley State battled back from a 10-point halftime deficit at Saginaw Valley State on Thursday (Jan. 8) to earn a hard-fought 73-65 victory over the Cardinals. The Lakers trailed SVSU 41-29 a minute into the second half before outscoring the Cardinals 44-24 throughout the rest of the game. GVSU has now won six consecutive games and improves to 9-2 overall with a 5-1 GLIAC mark.

Saginaw Valley State falls to 1-11 overall and the Cardinals are winless (0-7) in conference play. With 5:38 remaining in the first half, SVSU and the Lakers were tied at 25-25. Over the remainder of the first half, the Cardinals went on a 14-4 run to take a 39-29 advantage into halftime. Grand Valley State had only trailed at the half one time this season - and the Lakers lost that game to Ferris State on Dec. 1.

While GVSU shot 40.0 percent (12-of-30) in the opening 20 minutes, Saginaw Valley State shot a blistering 68.0 percent (17-of-25) from the field and made three three-pointers.

The Lakers began their comeback early in the second half. A 12-point Cardinal lead (41-29 with 19:06 left) was quickly cut in half by a jumper from freshman Emma Veach and consecutive layups from Kim Wyngaard and Kara Crawford. Less than two minutes later, GVSU freshman point guard Jasmine Padin drained her third three-pointer of the game to cut the lead to 43-39.

Freshman Jessica Trambley then knocked down a pair of free throws before another triple from Padin gave the Lakers their first lead since the 19:25 mark of the first half. The teams would battle back and forth before a fifth Padin three-pointer gave Grand Valley State a 50-49 lead with 11:06 remaining. GVSU would not trail the rest of the game.

Wyngaard followed with a pair of free throws and Veach put in a layup and the Lakers were up, 54-49. SVSU cut the lead to two points on a few occasions and trailed just 66-62 with 1:50 to play in the game. However, Grand Valley State stepped to the line and made its free throws, as the Lakers knocked down 7-of-8 attempts in the final 61 seconds to preserve the victory.

Padin scored 16 of her 24 points in the pivotal second half and knocked down a career-best five three-pointers. The 24 points for Padin tied a career-high, while the newcomer added four assists. She shot 7-of-16 from the field, including 5-of-12 from long distance.

Wyngaard added 16 points, four rebounds, and a pair of steals. Her consecutive free throw streak was broken at 21 straight shots, as she went 3-of-4 at the free throw line. Wyngaard, shooting 93.9 percent (46-of-49) at the charity stripe this season, had not missed a free throw since Dec. 6 at Ashland.

The Lakers received a dozen points from Veach, who shot 5-of-10 from the floor. Sophomore Elizabeth Van Tiflin totaled nine points and recorded her third straight game of four steals. Crawford notched a game-high nine rebounds, as the Lakers owned the rebounding advantage, 38-26. It is the ninth time in 11 games that GVSU has outrebounded its opponents. Grand Valley State is 8-1 in such contests.

For the game, the Lakers shot 45.5 percent from the floor, including a solid 52.0 percent (13-of-25) in the second half. Grand Valley State notched a season-best eight three-pointers and shot 14-of-20 from the free throw line in the second half. GVSU forced 27 Cardinal turnovers and recorded 14 steals.

The win marks the 10th straight time Grand Valley State has defeated SVSU, having not lost to the Cardinals since Jan. 26, 2004. GVSU takes the court again on Saturday (Jan. 10) in a 1:00 p.m. tip-off at Lake Superior State.