March 6, 2009

Box Score

Houghton, Mich. - Grand Valley State trailed by just seven points at halftime before Hillsdale outscored the Lakers by 15 points in the second half of the GLIAC Final Four in Houghton, Mich. The Chargers went on to defeat GVSU, 90-68, on Friday night (Mar. 6). It was the most points the Lakers gave up all season.

Hillsdale jumped out early to an 8-2 lead at the first media timeout, as the Chargers used five points from Katie Eckinger and a three-pointer from Janay Miller to take the early advantage. Out of the timeout, senior Kim Wyngaard converted an old-fashioned three-point play, making a layup and the ensuing free throw.

After a pair of free throws from freshman guard Emma Veach, the Lakers used a perfect backdoor cut from sophomore Kara Crawford to classmate Elizabeth Van Tiflin to cut the HC lead to 10-9. Veach then scored on a jumper in the lane and freshman point guard Jasmine Padin scored on a layup to close the 8-0 GVSU run. GLIAC Player of the Year Katie Cezat scored on a layup with 9:07 remaining for her first two points of the game to make the score 13-10 in Grand Valley State's favor.

With the Lakers trailing 19-18, Padin added a three-pointer to re-gain the lead. Hillsdale's Claire Aubrey tied the game with a jumper before Padin knocked down another trifecta at the 5:07 mark to jump back ahead, 24-21. The Chargers responded with an 11-0 run over the next four minutes before a jumper from Veach brought GVSU within six points at 32-26. HC took a 34-27 advantage into halftime.

In a topsy-turvy first half, the score was tied three times and the lead changed hands on eight occasions. GVSU shot 45.0 percent (9-of-20) from the floor, but did commit 11 turnovers. The Chargers made four three-pointers, but the Laker defense held them to just 39.4 percent shooting from the field. Grand Valley State also did a tremendous job on Cezat, who entered the game averaging 28.9 points per game, ranking her second in the nation. In the first 20 minutes, she totaled just six points and two rebounds.

To start the second half, Hillsdale used an 11-2 run to push the score to 45-29 at the 15:50 mark. Junior forward Lauren Buresh drained a triple for the Lakers before Cezat answered by scoring four points in the next 25 seconds. The Chargers continued to shoot lights-out from the floor in the early part of the second half, using an 18-8 run over the next four minutes to push their lead to 63-40. Cezat scored 11 points in that game-changing run.

Padin's fourth three-pointer of the game made the score 65-44 just under the 11-minute mark. That triple gave her 68 three-pointers for the year, which broke the previous single-season school record of 67 set by former Laker Erika Ryskamp in 2004-05 and 2005-06.

Hillsdale continued to shoot the ball well from all areas of the floor and the GVSU offense was unable to handle the hot-shooting Chargers. For the game, HC shot 54.1 percent from the field and drained 11-of-18 three-pointers for a 61.1 percent clip. Cezat ended up with game-highs of 29 points and 11 rebounds.

The Lakers received a team-high 22 points from Padin, who shot 5-of-11 from three-point range. She added seven assists and a pair of steals. Wyngaard totaled 14 points on 6-of-9 shooting from the floor. Veach, the GLIAC Freshman of the Year, finished with 11 points and six rebounds. Buresh entered double figures with 11 points, knocking down a pair of triples.

GVSU now awaits its fate, as the NCAA Division II selection show is Sunday night (Mar. 8) at 9:00 p.m. The top eight teams from each region advance to the 64-team field. As of March 4, Grand Valley State was the ninth-ranked team in the Midwest Region.