Feb. 26, 2009

Box Score

Detroit, Mich. - Four GVSU starters scored in double figures and the Lakers held Wayne State to 32.4 percent shooting from the field to earn a 71-57 road victory on Thursday night (Feb. 26). Grand Valley State shot at a 50.9 percent clip for the game and owned a 28-12 advantage in points in the paint.

In the first meeting between the teams on Jan. 24, the Lakers held a 21-point advantage in the second half before Wayne State made a valiant comeback and took a brief lead. GVSU held on for a wild 69-62 victory in that game and the teams were even again for most of the first half on Thursday night.

Nearing the 10-minute mark in the opening half, the score was tied at 15-15 before GVSU used an 8-2 run, including six points from sophomore forward Kara Crawford, to take a six-point advantage. Wayne State cut the lead to 28-25 with 1:39 to play before senior forward Kim Wyngaard scored on a layup and freshman point guard Jasmine Padin drained a three-pointer with 10 seconds remaining to open a 33-25 lead at intermission.

Grand Valley State (19-7, 15-6 GLIAC) held a commanding 18-4 lead in points in the paint in the opening 20 minutes and held the Warriors to 26.5 percent shooting (9-of-34) from the floor. The Laker defense held WSU (7-19, 5-16 GLIAC) was 5-of-18 from three-point range.

Freshman guard Emma Veach scored on a jumper 46 seconds into the second half to give GVSU a 10-point advantage and the Warriors would not get that close again in the game. The Lakers then used the three-ball in their favor, as five of GVSU's next six buckets were from long distance. Sophomore guard Elizabeth Van Tiflin drained two three-pointers in 48 seconds, followed by a triple from Padin to push the Grand Valley State lead to 44-27 only three minutes into the half.

Minutes later, freshman guard Kelly Kretz knocked down a shot from beyond the arc and Padin followed with another trifecta to up the Laker advantage to 20 points at 52-32. It was smooth sailing from that point, as Wayne State would not tally a similar comeback to the teams' first meeting, getting within 11 points in the final two minutes. Grand Valley State held WSU to 8-of-30 shooting (26.7 percent) from downtown to record its best point total defensively since Dec. 30.

GVSU shot better than 50.0 percent from the floor for the third time this season and knocked down 8-of-17 three-pointers (47.1 percent), including 6-of-8 attempts in the second half. The Lakers totaled a 56.0 field goal percentage in the second half, making 14-of-25 shots from the field.

Padin led Grand Valley State with 14 points, while shooting 4-of-7 from downtown. She added six rebounds and five assists. Wyngaard notched 13 points and tallied a team-best eight rebounds, while Kretz totaled career-highs in points (12) and rebounds (five), as she shot 5-of-6 from the floor. Crawford and Veach rounded out the five Lakers in double figures, as they racked up the same statline of 11 points, four rebounds, and three assists each.

Grand Valley State closes out the regular season with a 4:00 p.m. game at Northwood on Saturday afternoon (Feb. 28). It is a pivotal match-up for both teams (each own a 15-6 league record), as they will be playing for seeding in next week's GLIAC Tournament. Both GVSU and Northwood will host a first-round GLIAC playoff game next Tuesday (Mar. 3) - the victor of Saturday's contest will be the #3 seed, while the losing team would be the #4 seed.