Jan. 28, 2012

Box Score

BIG RAPIDS, Mich. – The Grand Valley State women’s basketball team dropped a 58-50 decision to Western Michigan rival Ferris State on Saturday afternoon at Jim Wink Arena.

The loss drops the Lakers to 9-10 on the season and a 6-6 mark in the GLIAC. Ferris State maintains its top position in the GLIAC North Division with a 10-1 conference record and 13-4 overall.

The two teams traded baskets over the opening 10 minutes of the game with Ferris State coming away with a 15-13 lead with 10:18 to play.  The Bulldogs then went on a 12-3 run to take hold an 11-point advantage, 28-17, before the final media timeout of the first half.

Grand Valley State sparked its own 8-0 run to close out the half and pull within three, 28-25, heading into the locker room.

It took almost four minutes for either team to score a basket after halftime before senior Kara Crawford (Winamac, Ind.) and sophomore Dani Crandall (Eaton Rapids, Mich.) landed back-to-back treys to take a 31-28 lead with 15:46 to play. 

The lead was short lived though as Ferris State battled back and tied the game two more times before going ahead for the final time, 36-35, on Sarah DeShone’s free throw with 10:32 remaining in the game.

GVSU continued to be in striking distance as the Bulldogs only held a one to five point lead until the final media timeout.  The Lakers were able to climb back to within, 49-46 with less than two minutes to play.

Ferris State closed out the the remaining minutes with two buckets and went 5-of-6 from the line to add to its lead while holding GVSU to just one basket to take the game.

Junior Briauna Taylor (Livonia, Mich.) paced the Lakers with 20 points on 6-of-14 from the floor including 6-for-7 outing from the line.  Crawford was second on the team with nine points.

The Lakers shot 31.1 percent (14-45) from the floor, while Ferris State was 15-of-44 shooting for a 34.1 percent clip. The Bulldogs held a 35-28 edge off the glass, leading to 11 second chance points as GVSU was outrebounded for the first time in six games.

DeShone and Tricia Principe led the Bulldogs with double-digit point totals, adding 21 and 13, respectively.

GVSU now returns to the friendly confines of GVSU Fieldhouse Arena on Thursday against Saginaw Valley State at 6 p.m.  The Lakers picked up a 50-48 win on Alex Stelfox’s buzzer beater against the Cardinals in early January.