Jan. 14, 2010

Box Score

Ashland, Ohio - Grand Valley State took a 10-point advantage into halftime on Thursday night (Jan. 14) against Ashland and GVSU held the Eagles to 21 second-half points on its way to a 72-50 victory. Eight different Lakers scored at least six points, as Grand Valley State shot 43.7 percent from the field and owned a 45-33 rebounding edge over AU.

The victory is GVSU's fourth straight win, pushing its record to 11-3 overall with an 8-1 GLIAC record. Ashland falls to 6-7 on the year with a 3-6 mark in conference play. Since dropping its season opener against Drury on Nov. 16, Grand Valley State is 11-2, with its only blemishes coming in consecutive games to Hillsdale and Lake Erie on Dec. 19 and Dec. 30.

GVSU jumped ahead quickly in the first half, out to a 10-3 lead at the 15:32 mark after four straight buckets, including consecutive jumpers from Alex Stelfox, Jasmine Padin, and Kara Crawford. Ashland cut the score to 14-8 at the 13-minute mark, but after a Laker free throw and three-pointers from freshman Lauren Stodola and junior Elizabeth Van Tiflin, Grand Valley State was on top, 21-8, around the 11-minute mark.

A three-pointer from Ashland's Lacy Romine made the score 25-21 with 5:56 remaining in the half. The Lakers quickly answered over the next 90 seconds with three-pointers from sophomore guard Emma Veach and freshman forward Briauna Taylor to push back ahead, 31-21. Taylor's three-pointer was her ninth straight trifecta without a miss in the last four games. GVSU maintained the lead throughout the rest of the half and led, 39-29, at intermission.

Veach scored 13 points points in the first half on 6-of-9 shooting, while Taylor added 10 points on 4-of-7 field goal attempts. Both players had four rebounds. The Lakers shot 44.4 percent in the first half, while Ashland shot 35.7 percent from the floor in the opening 20 minutes. GVSU owned sizable leads in bench points (13-0) and points in the paint (20-6) in the first stanza.

Jumpshots from Stelfox and Crawford in the opening minute of the second half pushed the score to 43-29, as Ashland would never get within single digits in the final 20 minutes. The Eagles made the score 48-37 with 14:48 remaining before GVSU answered with the knockout punch. Stodola drained a jumper, Padin knocked down a three-pointer, and freshman Brittany Taylor scored on a jumpshot to put the Lakers back ahead by 18 points at 55-37 with 12 minutes remaining.

GVSU finished out the second half by shooting 42.9 percent in the final frame and 43.7 percent for the game. The Lakers recorded 19 offensive rebounds (to just eight for Ashland) and scored 13 second chance points. AU was forced into 20 turnovers, which Grand Valley State converted into 22 points. GVSU's defense forced the Eagles into 35.3 percent shooting and just 5-of-18 from three-point range.

The game's leading scorer was Veach, who tallied 13 of her game-high 15 points in the first half. She shot 7-of-13 from the field and added six rebounds and four steals. Briauna Taylor scored 14 points to go along with six boards, which ties her career-high. Van Tiflin added eight points and five rebounds and Stodola produced seven points. Four other Lakers (Padin, Stelfox, Crawford, and Brittany Taylor) each scored six points in the win.

Grand Valley State takes its winning ways to Tiffin on Saturday afternoon (Jan. 16) for a 1:00 p.m. match-up with the Dragons. The Lakers defeated Tiffin 86-59 in Allendale on Dec. 3.