Feb. 14, 2009

Box Score

Allendale, Mich. - Grand Valley State had its eight-game home winning streak snapped on Saturday afternoon (Feb. 14), falling to #12 Michigan Tech, 65-56. The Lakers tied a season-high with 11 three-pointers, but MTU pulled away late in the game, after the lead switched hands eight times in the second half.

The two teams played exactly two weeks ago in Houghton, Mich., with the Huskies owning a 74-63 victory. Michigan Tech (19-4, 16-2 GLIAC) brought a two-game losing streak into Fieldhouse Arena, while the Lakers (17-6, 13-5 GLIAC) defeated Northern Michigan on Thursday after a 1-3 road trip. GVSU last lost at home on Dec. 1, 2008 in a 74-64 defeat against Ferris State.

After a Danae Danen layup a minute into the game, a three-pointer from freshman point guard Jasmine Padin gave the Lakers a 3-2 advantage, their only lead of the first half. Michigan Tech threatened to pull away a few times in the opening period and took a 23-14 lead at the 7:46 mark on back-to-back jumpers from Danen, who started the game shooting 5-for-5 for the Huskies.

The Lakers responded with consecutive three-pointers from Padin and sophomore forward Kara Crawford to cut the Tech lead to 23-20. After a Katie Wysocky layup put the Huskies on top, 27-23, Crawford closed out the first-half scoring with another trifecta with 66 seconds left, making the score 27-26 at intermission.

Both Danen and Crawford had 10 points each in the first 20 minutes, while the Huskies continued their status as one of the top-shooting teams in the country by knocking down 48.0 (12-of-25) of its attempts in the first half. GVSU shot 39.1 from the field, but made 6-of-12 triple tries.

Grand Valley State opened the second half by scoring six of the first seven points, again on three-pointers from Padin and Crawford. A jumper by Crawford less than a minute later put GVSU ahead 34-30 for its biggest lead of the game. The Huskies responded with consecutive trifectas from Katie Zimmerman and Tara Ferris to re-gain the lead, 36-34.

Trailing 45-42 at the 10:30 mark, a three-pointer from senior forward Kim Wyngaard tied the game. Tech would not trail the rest of the game, although it needed some clutch shooting late to pull away with the win. Freshman guard Emma Veach made her first bucket of the day - a three-pointer - with 5:35 remaining to cut the MTU lead to 53-50.

The big buckets that the Huskies needed would come from Zimmerman, who made a three-pointer with the shot clock winding down at the 2:41 mark, extending the Michigan Tech advantage to 58-52. Two minutes later with GVSU trailing, 60-56, Zimmerman connected on another long-distance shot, giving the Huskies a seven-point lead.

Crawford led the Lakers with 17 points on 6-of-10 shooting, while draining all three of her triple attempts. She added a pair of steals in 28 minutes. Padin connected on 4-of-5 three-pointers for 14 points and dished five assists.

Junior forward Lauren Buresh totaled 11 points and four rebounds, while Wyngaard added 10 points, seven boards, and four assists. Sophomore guard Elizabeth Van Tiflin led all players with eight rebounds.

Michigan Tech shot 48.9 percent from the field, while knocking down 8-of-19 three-pointers (42.1 percent). The Lakers drained 11-of-25 triples (44.0 percent), while shooting 39.6 percent from the floor. GVSU outrebounded Tech, 31-28, while the Huskies had 10 turnovers compared to the Lakers' 17 miscues.

Grand Valley State takes the floor again next Thursday when the Lakers will host Lake Superior State in a 6:00 p.m. contest. GVSU won at LSSU, 80-68, on Jan. 10.