Jan. 30, 2010

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Allendale, Mich. - After leading 24-22 at halftime, Grand Valley State was outscored by 14 points in the second half, as the Lakers fell to visiting Northern Michigan 66-54 on Saturday afternoon (Jan. 30). GVSU dropped its second straight game and fell to 13-2 when leading at halftime, as the Wildcats shot 56.0 percent in the second half to capture the road victory.

The Lakers dropped a heart-breaking double overtime game to Michigan Tech on Thursday night, 75-71, and were unable to hold onto a halftime lead on Saturday. Grand Valley State falls to 14-5 on the year with an 11-3 record in the GLIAC, while Northern Michigan also owns 14-5 record with an 11-3 mark in conference play. It is GVSU's second two-game losing streak of the year, as it fell in consecutive games to Hillsdale and Lake Erie on Dec. 19 and Dec. 30.

Grand Valley State started early with back-to-back layups from sophomore guard Emma Veach and freshman center Alex Stelfox. The Wildcats tied the score at 10-10 after three straight free throws from guard Christa Erickson, who was fouled shooting a three-pointer. NMU went up 12-10 before Stelfox would score three consecutive buckets on two jumpers and a layup to put the Lakers ahead, 16-12.

A three-pointer from sophomore Kelly Kretz gave GVSU an 18-15 advantage, but Northern Michigan notched the next seven points, including a pair of three-pointers from Erickson, to move ahead 22-18. Grand Valley State would score the final six points of the half on buckets from freshman Lauren Stodola, Kretz, and freshman Briauna Taylor to take a 24-22 advantage at the half.

In the opening 20 minutes, the Lakers shot 42.9 percent from the field and owned a 20-15 rebounding edge. Northern Michigan shot just 28.0 percent, but made three triples and 5-of-6 free throws to stay in the game. GVSU had an 18-8 edge in points in the paint and a 12-5 advantage in bench points.

After NMU tied the score at 24-24, the Lakers responded with consecutive buckets from Stelfox and junior Kara Crawford to move ahead 28-24. Northern Michigan would tie the score at 28-28 before Elizabeth Van Tiflin drained a trifecta to regain a three-point cushion. The Huskies would again tie the score at 32-32 and continue their 9-0 run with two more layups and a three-pointer to push out to a 39-32 advantage with 12:32 remaining.

Northern Michigan extended its lead to 10 points at 48-38 on another trifecta, but the Lakers would rally to within five points at 49-44 after a jumper and an old-fashioned three-point play from Crawford. With the score at 53-47 after a three-pointer from Taylor, NMU responded with back-to-back triples from Erickson and point guard Steffani Stoeger to make the score 59-47 with only 2:35 remaining. The Lakers would not get within single digits again, as Northern Michigan left Allendale with the win.

While the Wildcats shot just 28.0 percent in the first half, they shot 56.0 percent in the final 20 minutes, including 6-of-12 from three-point range. For the game, NMU connected on 42.0 percent of its shots and the Wildcats made as many three-pointers (nine) as Grand Valley State attempted (nine). The Lakers shot 45.5 percent from the floor, but made just 2-of-9 triple tries. Northern Michigan also owned a large free throw advantage, making 15-of-25 attempts compared to GVSU's 2-of-5 mark at the charity stripe.

On the rebounding edge, NMU led 35-32 and 12-9 on offensive boards. Those offensive rebounds gave the Wildcats a 14-2 edge in second chance points, while the Lakers owned a slight 30-24 advantage in the paint.

Grand Valley State was led by Stelfox, who scored 10 of her 12 points in the first half. She was 6-of-9 from the field and added two blocked shots. Taylor scored 11 points on 5-of-10 shooting and added three rebounds off the bench. Crawford scored eight points, while Veach totaled five points and team-highs of five assists and six rebounds.

The Lakers continue their four-game homestand next Thursday night (Feb. 4) against Findlay. GVSU and the Oilers will tip off at 6:00 p.m. in Fieldhouse Arena.