Jan. 21, 2012

Box Score

HOUGHTON, Mich. – Despite Grand Valley State holding a lead in the opening minutes of the game, the Lakers could not contain No. 19 Michigan Tech as the women’s basketball team dropped a 69-48 decision on Saturday afternoon at the SDC Gymnasium.

GVSU evens its record to 9-9 and 6-5 in GLIAC play, while Michigan Tech improves to 12-4 and 7-3 in conference.

Junior Briauna Taylor (Livonia, Mich.) had a game-high 19 points on 5-of-19 shooting and a 9-for-12 outing at the line. Junior Brittany Taylor (Livonia, Mich.) added eight points, while both players tallied six rebounds.

For the game, GVSU shot 30 percent on 15-of-50 from the floor, while Michigan Tech shot 53 percent on 28-of-52. The Lakers struggled from behind the arc, only making two treys, while Michigan Tech went 7-of-15 from long range.

The Lakers jumped out to an 11-3 lead six minutes into the opening half, but Michigan Tech used a 14-5 run to go ahead 17-16 just before the third media timeout. GVSU then regained the lead with a pair of Briauna Taylor free throws and senior Kara Crawford’s (Winamac, Ind.) bucket for a 20-19 advantage.

The lead was short lived though as the Huskies held the Lakers to just three more points for the remainder of the half and stretched their lead to 33-23 going into the locker room.

Michigan Tech continued to control the game, extending its lead to 46-28 with 12:23 remaining in the game. GVSU went on an 8-2 run to pull within, 46-36, but that would be the closest the Lakers would get for the rest of the game.

The Huskies extended their lead to as many as 25, 67-42, with less than minutes to play and continued their home-winning streak against the Lakers. GVSU has not been able to pull off a win against Michigan Tech since the 2001-02 season.

Grand Valley State now remains on the road to close out January with its final game against Ferris State on Saturday, Jan. 28 at 1 p.m. in Big Rapids.