at Saginaw Valley State (Thursday, 6:00 p.m.): Listen | Live Stats | Game Notes
 
vs. Hillsdale (Saturday, 1:00 p.m.): Watch | Listen | Live Stats | Game Notes
 
ALLENDALE, Mich.—The Grand Valley State women's basketball team, winners of five straight games, will look to add to that figure in a pair of games this week. The split series will see the Lakers travel on the road to Saginaw Valley State (12-5, 9-3 GLIAC) on Thursday evening, before coming back to the friendly confines of GVSU Fieldhouse Arena for a Saturday afternoon matchup with the Hillsdale Chargers (8-8, 5-7 GLIAC).

There are links above to follow along to the radio broadcast of both games, as well as links to follow the live stats. As usual, Saturday's home game against Hillsdale will also have a free video feed. The games will be aired on WTKG-AM 1230, with fifth year play-by-play announcer DJ Foster calling the action.

Grand Valley comes into the matchups on a hot streak, riding five consecutive wins dating back to January 9^th. The most recent of those came last week, as the Lakers went on the road to take down Lake Superior State 71-49 last Thursday, before defending their home court with a convincing 71-49 win against Northwood on Saturday night. In that win, forward Kayla Dawson tied her career high with 28 points as the Lakers shot 50 percent (24-48) from the field.

Thursday's matchup against Saginaw Valley is a pivotal one for the Lakers, as the two teams join Michigan Tech in a three way tie at the top of the North Division, with each team sitting at 9-3 in the division. The Cardinals are led by four time GLIAC Player of the Week Emily Wendling, a capable forward averaging a dynamic 19.8 points per game, as well as hauling in nine rebounds per game while shooting .582 percent from the field.

From a matchup perspective, the two teams both place well among the GLIAC's best in multiple categories. The Cardinals place slightly above the Lakers in team rebounding 39.1- 37.8, but the Lakers outscore the Cardinals, on average, by a slim margin of 2.4 points (75.0-72.6). The Cardinals shoot at a  marginally better clip from the field (44.0-44.2), but the Lakers finish from behind the arc (37.8-33.7) at a better mark, and make five more triples than Saginaw Valley per contest.

On the defensive end, the Lakers present a matchup nightmare to opponents, having held 11 of 18 opponents below 60 points this season. Opponents are shooting at a 37 percent clip this season from the field against the Lakers, and that figure drops to just 29 percent from beyond the arc. Their conference low points allowed average of 54.7 is also the 12^th best mark in all of Division II.

On Saturday, the Lakers will play host to the Chargers of Hillsdale, fresh off of two double digit losses at Michigan Tech and Northern Michigan last week. The Lakers faced off against the Chargers twice last season, dropping the first game 57-73 at Hillsdale on January 31^st, before avenging the loss with an overtime victory on February 21^st, 71-63. This season, the Chargers average just 67.7 points per game, which is the 13^th best scoring average in the league, and allow 68.8 points per game on defense, also 13^th in the league.

Grand Valley has evolved into one of the most dangerous offenses in the conference, averaging 75.0 points per contest (second in the GLIAC), and ranking fourth in the country in made three pointers per game, with 9.8 per game. Outside shooting and a plethora of scoring options have been the driving factor behind the Lakers impressive win streak, and causes difficult matchups for opponents on defense. In addition to having held eleven opponents below 60 points this season, the Lakers have not been held below that mark at all this season, and their last ten wins have all been by double digits.

Tip off for Thursday's game is set for 6 p.m. Saturday's home tilt against Hillsdale will begin at 1 p.m at GVSU Fieldhouse Arena, where the Lakers own an impressive 9-1 reason this season.