Dec. 7, 2011

Box Score

MIDLAND, Mich. – The Grand Valley State women’s basketball team was held scoreless over the last two and half minutes as the Lakers fell, 66-59, at Northwood on Wednesday evening at the Bennett Center.

With the loss, GVSU falls to 3-4 on the season and 1-2 in the early part of GLIAC action.  The Timberwolves improve to 6-2 and 2-1 in conference play.

Senior Jasmine Padin (Wyoming, Mich.) paced the Lakers with 15 points, while juniors Brittany Taylor (Livonia, Mich.) and Briauna Taylor (Livonia, Mich.) each tallied 11. Padin also dished out a season-high eight assists while grabbing six boards, and Brittany Taylor led the team with nine rebounds.  

Northwood pulled ahead, 17-10, at 12:47, taking its biggest lead of the game, but the Lakers battled back evening the score at 19-19 with Briauna Taylor’s layup with seven minutes remaining in the first.

Grand Valley State then made three consecutive three-pointers courtesy of Padin, redshirt sophomore Kellie Watson (Ionia, Mich.) and Briauna Taylor to give the Lakers their biggest lead of the game, 28-21 with less than three minutes left in the half. 

A three-pointer from Rachel Church was the final points of the half for the Timberwolves. Junior Lauren Stodola (Jenison, Mich.) the closed out the opening 20 minutes, hitting a jumper to give the Lakers a 30-26 halftime lead.

Northwood tallied 40 second-half points and used an 11-0 run to pull away late in the game, including shooting 63.6 (14-22) percent from the floor.

GVSU held a second-half lead until Northwood tied the score at 43-43 at the 11-minute mark. The Lakers didn’t back down though pulling ahead again, 55-48, on Alex Stelfox’s (Bowie, Md.) layup at 5:09. 

Northwood hit two treys during a 13-4 run to go ahead, 62-59, with 52 seconds left in the game and did not look back.  GVSU hit its last field goal at the 2:55 mark, a lay up from Brittany Taylor.

Church had a team-high 20 points, while three other teammates chipped in double digit point totals for Northwood.

For the game, GVSU shot 37.7 percent from the floor, while Northwood was 25-for-50, including an 8-of-18 mark from behind the arc.  The Lakers held a 17-0 edge in second chance points as the Lakers outrebounded Northwood, 42-30.

GVSU now returns to the friendly confines of Fieldhouse Arena with a game against Rochester College on Saturday at 1 p.m.