Feb. 6, 2010

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Allendale, Mich. - Grand Valley State received a stellar team effort on Saturday night (Feb. 6) against Hillsdale in GVSU Fieldhouse Arena, knocking off the Chargers, 77-67. Sophomore guard Kelly Kretz scored a career-high 20 points, while sophomore Emma Veach and freshman Briauna Taylor each tallied double-doubles in the win for GVSU.

The victory puts the Lakers at 16-5 overall with a 13-3 record in the GLIAC, as Grand Valley State won the final two games of its four-game homestand. GVSU will head onto the road for four straight away games, as the Lakers are 7-2 in road contests. Hillsdale falls to 9-11 overall, as the Chargers have a 9-7 conference mark.

It was a close game throughout the entire first half on Saturday night, as GVSU pushed out to a 13-8 lead with 10:41 remaining after sophomore point guard Jasmine Padin drained one of her two three-pointers in the game. Hillsdale then ran off nine of the next 13 points to tie the game upat 17-17. Grand Valley State re-gained a four point lead on three different occasions, but Hillsdale's Laura Barczak made a layup with 26 seconds left to keep the Chargers within two at halftime. GVSU led 35-33 at the break.

The opening half saw both teams shoot nearly identical from the field, as Grand Valley State made 43.8 percent of its shots and HC made 43.3 percent of its attempts. Hillsdale made 4-of-13 three-pointers (30.8 percent) in the opening frame, while the Lakers owned a 23-14 rebounding advantage. GVSU also tallied a 16-9 edge in bench points, including 10 points on 5-of-7 shooting from Kretz.

Neither team could pull away in the second half, as the game was tied 10 different times. Grand Valley State, however, started to slowly move away from the Chargers after the 10th tie score of 51-51 with 11:40 remaining. Briauna Taylor scored on a layup, which was followed by a jumper from Kretz. Taylor's three-pointer with 8:06 left put the Lakers ahead 58-51.

Hillsdale would pull within 63-60 with 3:38 remaining before freshman center Alex Stelfox swished a long jumper and then Kretz scored on a fastbreak layup. Veach would then convert an old-fashioned three-point play with a layup and free throw, putting GVSU on top, 70-60 with 1:25 remaining in the game. The Lakers would make 6-of-8 free throws in the final 53 seconds to close out the game, with all the freebies coming from Padin.

The teams shot an identical 13-of-33 from the field in the second half for a 39.4 percent clip. For the game, Grand Valley State shot 41.5 percent, while Hillsdale notched a 41.3 percent mark. The Lakers owned a huge 47-33 advantage in rebounds and a 35-14 edge in bench points. While GVSU shot just 5-of-20 (25.0 percent) from three-point range, the Chargers made just 7-of-24 attempts (29.2 percent) from beyond the arc. Grand Valley State owned a large advantage at the line, making 18-of-28 freebies, while HC made just 8-of-10 attempts.

Kretz was tremendous off the Laker bench, as she shot 10-of-15 from the field for a career-best 20 points, which eclipsed her previous-high of 16 points against Lake Erie on Dec. 30, 2009. She added five rebounds in just 24 minutes.

Veach recorded her fifth career double-double and third of the season by totaling 17 points and 10 rebounds. She added four assists and two steals without a turnover in 37 minutes of play, while shooting 8-of-11 from the line. Taylor notched her first career double-double by notching 13 points and a career-high 10 rebounds. She shot 5-of-10 from the field and added four assists and a steal.

Padin struggled from the field, but still scored 15 points by making 7-of-10 free throws. She added a season-high six rebounds and three steals. The Laker starters combined for 42 of the team's 77 points, while the bench put up a solid 35 points.

Grand Valley State heads to the Upper Peninsula next week for a pair of games with the same teams it played last week in Allendale. GVSU takes on Northern Michigan next Thursday (Feb. 11) at 5:30 p.m. in a key conference game.