Jan. 11, 2012

Box Score |  Post Game Interview

ALLENDALE, Mich. - The Grand Valley State women's basketball team hung onto its halftime lead and avenged an earlier season loss with a 52-47 victory over visiting Northwood on Wednesday evening at GVSU Fieldhouse Arena.

Now on a four-game conference win streak, the Lakers improve to 8-7 on the season and more importantly 5-3 in the GLIAC.  Northwood evens its record to 7-7 and 2-5 in the league.

Both teams had a hard time finding their rhythm in the opening minutes as each squad only scored one basket by the 14-minute mark and added free throws to knot the score at five.  GVSU found its step and junior Briauna Taylor (Livonia, Mich.) added four points in a 9-2 run to give GVSU a 14-7 advantage with 8:16 to play.

Northwood responded with an 11-2 run to tie the score, this time at 16-16 with 5:12 remaining in the opening stanza before a jumper by redshirt freshman Emily England (Metamore, Mich.), who finished with seven points, ended the stretch. 

The teams traded baskets to end the half, but back-to-back treys from senior Kara Crawford (Winamac, Ind.) and a lay up by England gave the Lakers a 26-22 lead heading into the half.

The teams tied the score at 28 just three minutes into the second, but junior Brittany Taylor's (Livonia, Mich.) jumper and free throw gave the Lakers the final go ahead of the night.  Savannah Stedman scored the Timberwolves only basket over the next nine minutes as GVSU pulled ahead 42-30.

A pair of free throws ended the stretch and Northwood scored on five of its next seven possessions to pull within five, 48-43 with less than two minutes to play.  Despite shooting just 51 percent (14-27) from the line, successful back-to-back trips to the charity stripe with 46 seconds to play gave the Lakers the cushion they would need to win the game.

Crawford paced the Lakers for the first time this season with 16 points on 5-of-8 shooting, including 3-for-4 from behind the arc.  The forward also had five rebounds, two steals and one assist.  Briauna Taylor was the only other Laker to score in double digits, tallying 13 points on 4-of-9 from the floor.  Taylor also led the team with eight rebounds.

The GVSU bench outscored its counterpart, 22-14, led by eight points from Kellie Watson (Ionia, Mich.). It was the 12th time this season that the Lakers' bench held the advantage.

Northwood was held to well under its season field goal percentage (40.2) as GVSU limited the Timberwolves to a 31.6 clip on 18-of-57 shooting and also going 1-for-11 from the long range.  

Stedman had 16 points for Northwood, while Aleigha Wylie chipped in 10. The Lakers held Rachel Church to just six points, nine points below her season average of 15.2 per game.

The Lakers are back in action on Saturday against Hillsdale at 6 p.m. at GVSU Fieldhouse Arena.