Dec. 10, 2011

Box Score |  Photo Gallery 

ALLENDALE, Mich. – The Grand Valley State women’s basketball team led from tip-off to the final buzzer to down visiting Rochester 79-45 on Saturday afternoon at GVSU Fieldhouse Arena.

With the win, the Lakers even their record at 4-4 on the season and extends their home winning streak to three games. Rochester falls to 7-8 on the year.

Junior Alex Stelfox (Bowie, Md.) led all scorers with 21 points, shooting 10-for-16 from the floor, while also pulling down a team-high eight rebounds. Classmate Briauna Taylor (Livonia, Mich.) added 15 points and Lauren Stodola (Jenison, Mich.) tallied 12.

Senior Jasmine Padin (Wyoming, Mich.) helped out everywhere where on the floor with eight points, six rebounds, six assists, two steals and no turnovers.  

Grand Valley State jumped out to a 17-5 lead to open the first half thanks to five baskets from Stelfox.  A bucket from Elizabeth Stockwell pulled the Warriors to within 10, 17-7, at 14:22, but that would be the closest Rochester would get in the first half.

The Lakers held Rochester to just seven points over the remaining minutes to take a 39-14 lead into the locker room.  The 14 points are a first half season-low for opponents against GVSU as the Warriors shot just 20 percent from the field including a 1-of-13 mark from behind the arc.  The Lakers shot an impressive 51.6 percent from the field and tallied 22 points in the paint.

Rochester would shrink the Lakers’ lead to 24, 48-24, with 14:07 left, but GVSU held its distance during the second half.  A three from Stodola gave the Lakers their biggest lead 72-34 (38) of the game with 5:24 left in the game.

For the game, GVSU shot 32-of-60 (53.3 percent) from the floor, which is its second highest field goal percentage of the season.  Rochester was limited to just 29.5 percent shooting on the evening, but was able to get a handle on the long ball going 5-for-11 from behind the arc in the second stanza. The Lakers held a 44-29 edge off the glass, while committing a season-low 13 turnovers.

Grand Valley State takes a week off for final exams before returning to conference play when the Lakers host Northern Michigan on Sunday, Dec. 18 at 1 p.m. at GVSU Fieldhouse Arena.