Box Score In the first game under first year head coach Mike Williams, the Grand Valley women's basketball team took an early lead and never trailed on their way to a comfortable victory over Truman, in Quincy, Illinois on Saturday, 77-61.
 
The Lakers got off to a quick start, taking an early 20-12 lead off of a Janae Lang jumper with 9:57 left in the second period. That lead would be extended to 12 with 6:55 left in the second quarter on a layup by forward Kayla Dawson. The score would get no closer than a tie in the game.
 
"I thought we did a good job, taking care of the ball," Williams said. "I thought we had good shots, attacked the rim well, collapsed well and kicked it out to score it. We had some good looks that didn't go in, and that's bound to happen sometimes."
 
Using a 10-5 run over the next three minutes to trim the lead, Truman would cut the lead to 34-27 with four minutes before the half.
 
Demonstrating some hustle, guard Taylor Lutz set up Taylor Parmley with a layup off of an offensive rebound just before halftime, two of the 13 second chance points the Lakers would have on the night, giving them a 10 point lead going into the break.
 
The Lakers would accrue a 17-8 edge in offensive rebounding, leading to an overall rebounding edge of 41-35. Each Grand Valley starter collected at least four rebounds in the game.
 
"I thought our players did a good job attacking the glass," added Williams. "We tracked the ball down well, we don't have much size, but we have some kids that have a knack for offensive rebounding. We have some kids that just want to rebound, and we had a lot of people attacking the glass tonight."
 
Capitalizing on one of the Bulldog's 22 turnovers in the game, Brionna Barnett set up Taylor Lutz with a three-pointer with 6:35 left in the fourth quarter to open up the largest Laker lead at 22 points. Barnett finished with a team high five assists, along with tying Kayla Dawson with the team lead in points (16).
 
"I thought our kids did well on the help side defense tonight, I think that Truman didn't see it as well and that lead to some turnovers, and we also did a good job fronting the post, when they'd try to get it in there we were there to knock it away."
 
Also reaching double figures for Grand Valley were guard Taylor Lutz (13 points) and forward Taylor Parmley (14). Parmley was a perfect five for five from the field in the game.
 
The Lakers will be back in action tomorrow at 4 p.m. for a matchup with host Quincy University.