Jan. 6, 2011

Box Score

Allendale, Mich. - #11 Grand Valley State put together a tremendous defensive effort on Thursday night (Jan. 6) against Saginaw Valley State, beating the Cardinals by a 64-35 score for the team's fifth GLIAC victory this season. The 35 points allowed by the Lakers are the lowest total given up since January 2005, as GVSU held Saginaw Valley State to 26.1 percent shooting and forced 27 Cardinal turnovers in the victory.

The victory pushes Grand Valley State's record to 11-1 on the year, as the Lakers improve to 5-1 in conference play. Saginaw Valley State falls to 3-8 overall and 1-4 in the league. It was the lowest point total allowed by GVSU since January 20, 2005 when the Lakers blew out Mercyhurst by a 73-28 score. Grand Valley State also recorded season-bests in lowest field goal percentage allowed (26.1 percent) and lowest free throw percentage allowed (53.5 percent) on Thursday night.

GVSU forced the Cardinals into 27 turnovers and owned a 19-4 edge in points off of turnovers, even though the Lakers also committed 20 turnovers themselves. Grand Valley State also totaled large advantages in points in the paint (36-10) and bench points (33-15) and scored the game's only six fast break points, while shooting 42.2 percent from the field. The Lakers dominated the rebounding battle to the tune of a 44-31 tally.

Things looked good for GVSU early, as the Lakers totaled the first nine points of the game. The 9-0 run started and ended with buckets from sophomore center Alex Stelfox, which were sandwiched around a layup from Briauna Taylor and a three-pointer from Lauren Stodola. Saginaw Valley State answered by scoring the next five points, making the score 9-5, but the Lakers again scored nine straight points to open up an 18-5 lead just six minutes into the game.

During the second 9-0 run, Stelfox and Taylor made consecutive shots, sophomore Jessica Trambley converted a pair of free throws, and junior Jasmine Padin buried a three-point shot for the 13-point advantage. SVSU briefly stopped the spurt with a three-pointer of its own before Grand Valley State would again score nine straight points and take a 27-8 lead. Stelfox scored on a pair of buckets and freshman Tori Klewicki-McNutt netted five points in 37 seconds on a jumper and a three-pointer. The Cardinals would not get any closer than 16 points the rest of the game, as GVSU took a 38-17 lead into halftime.

After a pair of early buckets from Stelfox in the second half, Saginaw Valley State did cut the score to 44-27 with 13:47 remaining, but Stodola immediately responded with a three-pointer and a jumper, which was quickly followed by a layup from sophomore Brittany Taylor. Moments later, a three-pointer from freshman Dani Crandall hit the bottom of the net and the Lakers were back up by 25 points at 54-29.

Klewicki-McNutt had one of the game's highlights, tipping in a missed Laker shot and recording her career-high in points on the same play. Freshman Breanna Kellogg concluded GVSU's scoring with a layup with 37 seconds left, putting the Lakers ahead by 30 points, their biggest lead of the night.

Stelfox scored a game-high 16 points on 8-of-12 shooting, but the remarkable thing is that she did her damage in just 14 minutes of play. She was joined in double-figures by Klewicki-McNutt, who totaled a career-best 13 points, as she made 5-of-8 shots and 3-of-5 three-point attempts. Klewicki-McNutt added a career-high three steals, two boards, and a blocked shot.

Stodola provided eight points, four rebounds, a career-high four steals, an assist, and a block. Crandall added seven points, tied a career-best with six rebounds, set a personal-high with five assists, and added a pair of steals for good measure. Trambley totaled seven points and pulled down five rebounds for the Lakers, while adding two of GVSU's 17 steals, just two thefts short of its season-high.

Grand Valley State had a tough test on its hands on Saturday afternoon (Jan. 8), when it welcomes Lake Superior State to Allendale for a 3:00 p.m. contest. GVSU is 5-1 in the GLIAC, but LSSU is 5-0 in league play after a win over Ferris State on Thursday night.