Feb. 12, 2011

Box Score

Painesville, Ohio - Grand Valley State used an early 16-0 run and an 18-4 second-half spurt to help the #23 Lakers earn a weekend split with a 74-52 victory at Lake Erie on Saturday afternoon (Feb. 12) in Painesville, Ohio. Two days after suffering a tough one-point loss at Ashland, the Lakers shot 50.0 percent from the field in the first half and a 48-27 rebounding advantage as they captured their 18th victory of the season.

With the win and the split during the week, Grand Valley State improves 18-5 on the year with an 11-5 GLIAC mark, while Lake Erie falls to 3-18 overall and just 2-13 in league play. GVSU went 3-1 on this four-game road trip, improving to a very impressive 10-2 away from Allendale and 9-2 in true road games.

To start the contest, Lake Erie scored an early bucket before GVSU ran off 16 straight points to jump out to a 16-2 advantage just five minutes into the game. Sophomore center Alex Stelfox scored on a layup inside, which was followed by back-to-back three-pointers from junior Jasmine Padin and sophomore Briauna Taylor. Padin, Stelfox, and sophomore Brittany Taylor then each converted layups, while a pair of Stelfox free throws finished off the 16-0 run.

With the Lakers ahead 19-12, Briauna Taylor put in back-to-back layups in a 40-second span to move GVSU out to a 23-12 advantage nearly midway through the opening half. A three-pointer from the Storm made the score 23-15, but the Lakers then scored eight straight points to open up a 16-point advantage at 31-15. Briauna Taylor put in a layup, followed by another Padin three-pointer, and a Stelfox layup to close out the 8-0 spurt. Lake Erie responded, however, with eight straight points of its own to bring the Storm back within 31-23 at the 6:33 mark.

GVSU led 35-28 and finished off the half by scoring the final six points - all on free throws, with five of the six coming from Briauna Taylor - to head to halftime with a 41-28 advantage. The Lakers shot an even 50.0 percent (13-of-26) from the field, while sinking 12-of-19 free throws for a 63.2 percentage. GVSU held Lake Erie to just 35.7 percent shooting from the field, but the Storm drained 5-of-10 three-pointers to stay within striking distance. The teams combined for 29 first-half turnovers, with Lake Erie committing 15 of those miscues.

The Storm opened up the second half with an 8-2 run to get back to a 43-36 score just a few minutes into the stanza. GVSU then used three points from Briauna Taylor and a corner three-pointer from freshman Tori Klewicki-McNutt to start an 18-4 run that opened up the game in favor of the Lakers. Stelfox converted a layup, followed by a triple from the right wing from sophomore Lauren Stodola. Three straight buckets then came from two Stelfox layups and a driving bucket from Briauna Taylor. At this point, the Lakers led 61-40 with 10:26 remaining.

Both teams hit a bit of a stalemate, but the Lakers reached the 70-point plateau on consecutive layups from Breanna Kellogg and center Jessica Trambley to lead 71-49 with under three minutes to play. Grand Valley State ended up shooting 47.1 percent from the floor and the Lakers connected on 21-of-35 free throws. Lake Erie shot just 31.5 percent from the field and 6-of-15 from beyond the arc. The Lakers owned a 38-16 edge in points in the paint, a 33-21 advantage in points off turnovers, and a 17-2 lead in second chance points.

Briauna Taylor paved the way with her third double-double of the season, notching 19 points, 10 rebounds, four steals, and three assists. She made 6-of-12 field goals and 6-of-11 free throws. Stelfox just missed a double-double with 18 points on 8-of-14 shooting, while pulling down nine rebounds. Padin tallied 10 points to go with five assists and three steals. Stodola added nine points with the help of 6-of-8 free throws.

The Lakers head back to Allendale for a pair of home games next week. GVSU will square off with Findlay on Thursday night (Feb. 17) with an 8:00 p.m. start at Fieldhouse Arena.