Jan. 20, 2011

Box Score

Allendale, Mich. - In one of Grand Valley State's top offensive performances of the season, the #19 Lakers shot 54.7 percent from the field on their way to an easy 70-45 victory over visiting Northern Michigan on Thursday night (Jan. 20). GVSU shot a blistering 61.5 percent in the first half, leading by a dozen points at intermission, and finished the game with 10 three-pointers and a season-best 22 assists in winning its seventh home game of the year.

With the victory, the Lakers improve to 13-3 overall and 7-3 in league play. GVSU has put together back-to-back wins after suffering consecutive home losses last week. Northern Michigan falls to 7-9 on the year and 2-7 in the GLIAC. The two-game mini-win streak for GVSU is beneficial heading into Saturday's top-20 match-up with #8 Michigan Tech, which lost at Ferris State by a 63-60 score on Thursday night.

Grand Valley State won a tight 65-59 contest at Marquette in mid-December, but came out quickly on Thursday night and jumped out to a 10-3 lead in the early minutes of the game. Elizabeth Van Tiflin and Briauna Taylor both connected on three-pointers in the opening run, but GVSU was far from finished. NMU pulled to within 10-9 before Grand Valley State notched a 16-4 run that opened up the game. Freshman Dani Crandall started the run by sinking a triple, while guards Lauren Stodola and Tori Klewicki-McNutt each knocked down jumpers.

Taylor got in on the fun and scored on a layup, which was followed by five straight points on a trifecta and a jumper from Stodola. When sophomore Alex Stelfox scored on a layup at the 8:52 mark, GVSU was doubling up the Wildcats on the scoreboard, 26-13. Late in the half, Klewicki-McNutt buried a three-pointer that put the Lakers ahead by 16 points at 39-23, but NMU scored the final four points of the half and cut the deficit to 39-27 entering halftime.

Leading by a dozen points (47-35) five minutes into the second half, junior Jasmine Padin buried three-pointers on consecutive possessions and Stelfox converted a layup, building the Laker lead to 55-36 with 11:49 remaining. Northern Michigan would get within 14 points (57-43) at the 9:45 mark, but Van Tiflin drained a three-pointer and started an 13-0 run that would finish off the Wildcats. Freshman Lindsay McCarty made the Laker bench erupt when she connected on a three-pointer at the 4:06 mark and then followed up with a layup less than two minutes later, pushing the score out to 70-43, GVSU's biggest lead of the night.

The 54.7 field goal percentage was slightly lower than the Lakers' season-high of 55.7 against Aquinas on Jan. 2. Grand Valley State also connected on 10-of-20 three-pointers and pulled down 41 rebounds, while only allowing NMU to gather 20 boards. The Lakers did turn the ball over 21 times, but passed for 22 assists, both figures tying their previous season-high. GVSU was just too deep for the Wildcats, owning a 26-2 edge in bench points.

Stelfox was 7-of-13 from the floor and totaled a game-high 15 points, while she was joined in double figures by Taylor and Klewicki-McNutt. Taylor notched 10 points, four rebounds, and three assists in just 15 minutes, while Klewicki-McNutt was 4-of-5 shooting for 10 points in 17 minutes off the bench.

Stodola supplied seven points, a career-high six assists, three rebounds, a block, and a steal in 30 very productive minutes. Van Tiflin scored six points and handed out two assists, but recorded a game-high 11 rebounds, marking the fifth time she has pulled down 10 or more boards in a game. Padin added six points, four assists, two steals, and two rebounds, while Brittany Taylor made 3-of-4 shots and scored six points with four assists and three boards. Crandall notched five points and five boards, while McCarty tallied a career-high five points.

GVSU and Michigan Tech will do battle at 3:00 p.m. on Saturday (Jan. 22) in Fieldhouse Arena in a battle of top-20 teams in the nation.