Dec. 30, 2009

Box Score

Painesville, Ohio - Lake Erie College claimed a 71-62 victory over Grand Valley State in women's basketball action Wednesday afternoon in Painesville, Ohio. The Storm improve to 9-8 on the year, while GVSU falls to 7-3. The Lakers will return to action Thursday, Jan. 7 at home versus GLIAC rival Saginaw Valley State. Tipoff is set for 6 p.m.

The Lakers built an early lead over the Storm as junior forward Kara Crawford sandwiched buckets in the paint around a layup by freshman center Alex Stelfox. A pair of free throws by sophomore Emma Veach gave GVSU an 8-5 lead with 17:43 left in the first half. However, Lake Erie went on a 26-5 run over the next 12:14 to take a 31-13 lead. GVSU converted just two-of-17 shots with seven turnovers during the stretch. GVSU regrouped and went on a 15-5 run of its own to close the half. Sophomore forward Kelly Kretz tallied a three-point play, followed by a bucket in the paint to cut the LEC lead to 13 (31-18). Trailing 36-22 with 3:29 left in the opening half, Veach drilled back-to-back three-pointers that pulled the Lakers within eight (36-28) at the half.

The Storm, which maintained a lead of eight to 13 points for the first seven minutes of the second half, led 53-42 with 13:18 left in the game before GVSU began its comeback. Sophomore Maddie Burnett hit a three-pointer, followed by a tip-in by freshman Briauna Taylor. Lake Erie answered with a bucket of their own, but Briauna Taylor hit a three-pointer, Kretz hit a free throw and Crawford scored in the paint to pull GVSU within one (53-52) with 8:58 left in the game. Lake Erie came back with two free throws and a three-pointer to build the lead back to seven (60-53) and the Lakers would get no closer than five points (64-59) for the remainder of the game.

Veach and Kretz led the Lakers with 16 points each, while Briauna Taylor and Crawford each chipped in nine points. GVSU outrebounded LEC by a 53-34 margin, but the Storm connected on 45.0 percent from the floor (27-60). GVSU hit just 23-of-69 shots (33.3 percent) and turned the ball over 18 times. Brittany Taylor pulled down a team-high nine rebounds for the Lakers.