Nov. 22, 2011

Box Score |  Photo Gallery 

ALLENDALE, Mich. – The Grand Valley State women’s basketball took a 17-point lead into half time and never looked back as it defeated Aquinas, 75-47, on Tuesday night in its home opener at GVSU Fieldhouse Arena.

The Lakers even their record at 1-1, while Aquinas drops to 4-3 on the season.  GVSU now travels to Wisconsin-Parkside on Saturday at 2 p.m.

Junior Alex Stelfox (Bowie, Md.) led all scorers with 17 points, while tallying four rebounds, two blocks and two steals.  Juniors Brittany Taylor (Livonia, Mich.) and Lauren Stodola (Jenison, Mich.) had 11 points each, while Brittany Taylor led the team in rebounding with seven.

The Lakers took an early lead before the Saints pulled within one, 9-8 at 15:23.  Stodola then hit a three-pointer, starting a 20-5 run that spanned more than 12 minutes in the first half to give GVSU a 29-13 lead until the 3:04 mark.

Aquinas hit a trey to end the run, but Stelfox responded with four points to close the half, giving GVSU a 33-16 lead.

GVSU maintained its distance from the Saints, opening the second half with another impressive run,22-6, led by five points from senior Jasmine Padin (Wyoming, Mich.) and four from Stodola and Brittany Taylor to lead 55-22 at 14:16. 

Taking its biggest lead of the game, GVSU went up 68-34 with less than six minutes remaining in the game thanks to a pair of free throw shots from sophomore Dani Crandall (Eaton Rapids, Mich.).

All dressed players on the GVSU bench saw time on the floor including redshirt sophomore Kellie Watson (Ionia, Mich.) and redshirt freshman Emily England (Metamore, Mich.) who tallied eight and seven points, respectively.  Padin added eight points and dished out a game-high five assists.

Allison Heberlein paced the Saints with 11 points, while Lindsey Karpowicz chipped in 10. The Lakers also held Aquinas’ leading scorer, Taelor Sanders, to just seven points well under her season average of 17.0.

For the game, GVSU shot an impressive 53.6 percent from the floor, while holding the Saints to a 27 percent clip.  Aquinas capitalized on the Lakers’ turnovers, scoring 20 points off 16 turnovers, while GVSU tallied 14-second chance points from its 12 offensive rebounds.