Dec. 19, 2011

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ALLENDALE, Mich. – The Grand Valley State women’s basketball team limited No. 7 Michigan Tech to just 27 percent (16-58) shooting as the Lakers upset the Huskies, 66-40 on Monday evening at GVSU Fieldhouse Arena.

The win is the first against the Huskies for fifth-year head coach Janel Burgess and evens the Lakers’ record to 5-5 on the season and 2-3 in the GLIAC. Michigan Tech drops to 7-3 and 3-2 in conference action.

Junior Briauna Taylor (Livonia, Mich.) led all scorers with 23 points, shooting 8-for-17 from the floor and a perfect 6-for-6 from the line.  Taylor also had six rebounds and two assists.  Classmates Alex Stelfox (Bowie, Md.) and Brittany Taylor (Livonia, Mich.) each tallied 12 points, while Brittany grabbed a team-high eight rebounds.

The Lakers jumped out to an early 11-5 lead and never looked back.  Sophomore Breanna Kellogg (DeWitt, Mich.) hit a three to open the game, while Stelfox and Briauna Taylor added four points each during the stretch.

Michigan Tech battled back to within two, 11-9, on Lynn Giesler’s jumper, but the Lakers responded with a 6-0 run, capped by a Stelfox basket, to lead 17-9 at 12:06.  A pair of free throws and a three-pointer from Sam Hoyt pulled the Huskies to 17-14, but that would be the closest they would get for the remainder of the game.

GVSU ended the half on a 10-0 run, holding Michigan Tech scoreless for more than six minutes and taking a 36-19 lead into the locker room.  The Huskies shot just 25 percent (7-of-28) in the first half, while Grand Valley State was 13-for-28 (46 percent) and 8-for-8 from the charity stripe.

The Lakers maintained their distance in the second half and took their biggest lead of the game, 64-36, with less than three minutes to play.  The win is the first over a ranked opponent since Nov. 27, 2010 when the then-No. 18 GVSU knocked off then-No. 20 Wisconsin-Parkside, 64-50.

For the game, the Lakers shot 48 percent on 24-for-50 from the floor and was 16-for-17 from the line, a season-high 94 percent.  GVSU held a 39-30 edge off the glass and had 13 second chance points. Michigan Tech was limited to just three 3-pointers as it shot 13 percent (3-for-23) from behind the arc.

Hoyt, who averages 14 points a game, was held to just nine points on the night. Emma Veach had a game-high 11 rebounds, but was held to just seven points.

Grand Valley State now takes a short break before heading to Florida for two road games.  The Lakers play No. 20 Florida Southern on Dec. 29 at 2 p.m. before traveling to Tampa on Dec. 30 at 5 p.m.