Jan. 19, 2012

Box Score

MARQUETTE, Mich. - The Grand Valley State women's basketball team overcame a four-point halftime deficit to avenge its earlier loss in the season as the Lakers downed Northern Michigan, 51-48, on Thursday evening at the Berry Events Center. Northern Michigan picked up a 54-52 win in Allendale in December.

The win improves GVSU's record to 9-8 and more importantly a 6-4 record in the GLIAC, while Northern Michigan evens its season mark to 8-8 and 4-5 in league play.

The opening 20 minutes featured nine lead changes and five tie scores as the Wildcats pulled away with a 25-21 halftime score. Grand Valley State took its biggest lead of the half, 10-5, with 14:06 to play. Neither team held more than a two-point lead until Northern Michigan hit back-to-back threes to close out the opening stanza.

Grand Valley State allowed the Wildcats to extend their lead and take a 30-23 lead out of the locker room, but the Lakers bounced back with an 8-0 run to give the Lakers a 31-30 lead with 13 minutes left to play. Junior Brittany Taylor (Livonia, Mich.), who led the team with 16 points, scored five points during the stretch.

The second half continued similar to the first, with four more lead changes and another tie score. Northern Michigan continued to lead by two to five points until freshman Meryl Cripe (Elmhurst, Ill.) hit her second long ball of the game for her game total of six points, to give GVSU a 49-48 lead with 1:05 left in the game.

Over the next minute, the Wildcats could not convert and fouled the Lakers in the final 11 seconds. Brittany Taylor made 1-of-2 to pull ahead 50-48 before GVSU called timeout.

After the break, a NMU turnover forced the Wildcats to foul and Brittany Taylor was once again able to land a free throw shot to give GVSU the final lead, 51-48. The Wildcats' Alyssa Colla attempted to put a last second shot up, but could not make it as time expired and the Lakers won the game.

Brittany Taylor paced the team with 16 points on 6-of-7 shooting and 4-for-7 from the line. The junior guard pulled down a team-high eight rebounds and had two steals. Twin sister Briauna Taylor (Livonia, Mich.) was second on the team with eight points, including a 6-for-6 outing from the charity stripe and also dished out a game-high three assists.

The Grand Valley State bench once again contributed 12 points to the Wildcats two as all but one bench player tallied a basket. The Lakers held a 34-23 edge off the glass which lead to a 16-10 margin in the paint.

Northern Michigan's Chelsea Lyons led all scorers with 20 points including going 13-of-17 from the line. Courtney Lemon also tallied double-figure points with 11 on 5-of-6 shooting.

For the game, the Lakers went 18-of-44 from the floor for a 40.9 percent clip, while Northern Michigan went shot 35.1 percent on 13-of-37 from the floor.

The Lakers now stay in the Upper Peninsula as they look for their first win at Michigan Tech since the 2001-02 season. GVSU takes on the Huskies on Saturday, Jan. 21 at 1 p.m.