Feb. 10, 2011

Box Score

Ashland, Ohio - #23 Grand Valley State nearly pulled off a remarkable comeback at Ashland on Thursday night (Feb. 10), but the Lakers fell to AU by a 55-54 final score in Ashland, Ohio. GVSU trailed 20-3 midway through the first half and trailed by a dozen points at halftime before rallying to within one point late in the game. The Eagles used a big three-pointer to close out Grand Valley State and snap the Lakers' four-game winning streak.

With the loss, GVSU is now 17-5 on the year and 10-5 in GLIAC play. The Lakers had won four straight games and six of their last seven contests before the loss tonight. Ashland improves to 14-7 overall and 9-5 in the league. Before Thursday's game, Grand Valley State was 9-1 away from home this season, including an 8-1 record in true road games. The Eagles shot 44.7 percent from the field, but the key stat was AU holding the Lakers to just 34.5 percent field goal shooting.

Ashland started the game on a remarkable run, as the Eagles jumped way ahead to a 20-3 score at the 10:17 mark. The Lakers' only field goal came on a three-pointer from junior Jasmine Padin with 18:12 to play to make the score, 4-3. AU then ran off the next 16 straight points to push ahead, 20-3. But Grand Valley State would rally and use an 11-0 run of its own to get back into the ballgame.

The scoring spurt started with a pair of free throws from sophomore Lauren Stodola, which was followed by a putback from center Alex Stelfox. Sophomore Briauna Taylor then scored on a layup, which Stelfox again followed with another bucket. When Brittany Taylor put in a layup, the 17-point deficit had been cut to just six at 20-14 with 4:41 remaining in the half.

AU answered right back, however, as the Eagles tallied eight straight points, six from post player Daiva Gerbec. At this point, Ashland was on top, 28-14. Padin buried a three-pointer at the halftime buzzer to pull GVSU to within a dozen at 30-18. Grand Valley State shot just 18.8 percent (6-of-32) in the first half, while Ashland connected on 53.8 percent (14-of-26) of its attempts. The Eagles owned a 20-8 edge in the paint in the opening frame.

Grand Valley State started to chip away at the AU lead, thanks to a solid start to the second half from Briauna Taylor. She scored three of GVSU's first four field goals (along with a Stelfox follow-up) to make the score, 42-33. After a fastbreak layup from Stelfox, Taylor made a pair of freebies and added a jumper to cut the Eagle lead to 44-39 with 7:32 remaining. Stodola was able to get a runner to bank off the glass and keep the score at 46-41 with just over six minutes left in the game.

The Lakers pulled within four points twice - after a pair of free throws from Taylor made the score 47-43 and a driving layup that put the tally at 49-45 with little more than three minutes remaining. Taylor then continued her terrific run with another strong move and layup to cut the Ashland advantage to 49-47. After Ashland's Liz Tyler split two free throws, Taylor swished a baseline jumper, getting GVSU within a point at 50-49 with 1:43 to play.

With the shot clock running down on AU's next possession, Tyler sized up a three-pointer and swished the trifecta to put the Eagles on top, 53-49, with 15 seconds left. Back on the other end, Taylor knocked down another jumper to make the score 53-51. Tyler for AU then buried two free throws with six seconds to play to put the game out of reach at 55-51. Padin, however, finished the second half the same way she ended the first half by making a three-pointer as the clock expired, ending the game with a 55-54 result.

GVSU owned a 38-28 rebounding advantage (including 18 offensive rebounds) and a 20-8 total on the boards in the second half. The Lakers turned that into a 14-6 edge in second chance points. Ashland turned the ball over 17 times, while Grand Valley State committed 16 miscues.

Taylor was fantastic in the second half, pouring in 23 of her game-high 26 points in the final 20 minutes on 9-of-13 shooting. Overall, she was 10-of-21 from the field and made 6-of-8 free throws. She added nine rebounds. No other Laker reached double digits. Stelfox tallied eight points and tied Taylor with a game-high nine boards, to go with two assists, two blocks, and two steals.

Padin supplied nine points (on three trifectas) and four assists, while Stodola recorded eight points and three rebounds. Elizabeth Van Tiflin and Brittany Taylor each pulled down six boards.

Ashland was led by Tyler, who totaled a career-high 21 points, while Gerbec added 20 points and eight boards. Both players were 8-of-14 from the field. Guard Alyssa Miller dished out a game-best seven assists.

GVSU continues its four-game road stretch on Saturday (Feb. 12) at Lake Erie in a 3:00 p.m. showdown with the Storm.