ALLENDALE, Mich.—Defense carried the day for the Grand Valley State women's basketball team, as they held Tiffin to a season low 39 points and improved to 8-2 overall and 4-1 in GLIAC play with an 85-39 victory. Three Lakers scored in double figures for the game, led by Piper Tucker with a season-high tying 16 points.
 
Just a few days after struggling on offense in road games at Hillsdale and Walsh, GVSU started out strong in this one, jumping out to a 7-2 lead early in the first quarter and leading from wire-to-wire in the contest. The Lakers shot a season high 55.2 percent (32-58) from the field for the game, and were solid from beyond the arc, connecting on 11 of 26 attempts (42.3%).
 
A three point basket by Tucker and a layup by Bailey Cairnduff opened up a quick 5-0 lead for the home team in the first, and a second trifecta by Tucker with 6:28 left in the quarter expanded the lead to 12-5. The teams would go scoreless for the next three minutes of the quarter, before each team netted five points in the closing minutes to end the quarter with a 17-10 Laker lead.
 
The second quarter opened up with back to back layups by Laker bigs Cassidy Boensch and Korynn Hincka, four of the 40 points in the paint the Lakers would tally by game's end. After a Tiffin layup, Cairnduff drained a triple and Tucker made a layup to push the lead to 26-13. After a Tiffin three-pointer, the Lakers got a free throw from Boensch and back-to-back baskets by Dawson, a layup and three pointer, to push the lead to 16. That lead was cut to 13 with 42 ticks left in the half on another Tiffin triple, giving the Lakers a halftime lead of 32-19.
 
After the teams traded a pair of baskets each to start the second half, Dawson scored five quick points on back-to-back layups and a free throw. Cairnduff added a triple and Tucker hit a layup to cap off a 10-0 Laker run that ran just under four minutes. After a jumper by Tiffin's Deidre McKay cut the lead to 22 with 2:41 left in the third, Boensch scored layups on three straight possessions, and Taylor Lutz hit a layup at the buzzer to push the lead to 30 points (60-30) heading to the final stanza.
 
With the game well in hand heading into the final quarter, the Lakers nonetheless outscored the Dragons 23-9 in the final quarter. Reserves Lindsay Kusbel (eight points) Megan Belke (six points) and Maddie Dailey (five points) made the most of the moment, as the Lakers shot 64.3 percent (9-14) in the fourth quarter.
 
The Lakers held glaring advantages in rebounding (42-29) and points in the paint (40-4) in the game, exerting their will on a Dragon defense ranked second to last in the conference heading into the game. Additionally, the Lakers forced 22 Dragon turnovers, turning those into a 22-3 advantage in points off those turnovers. Tiffin was held to 25 percent shooting (14-56) in the game, and was 7-25 (28 percent) form beyond the arc.
 
Boensch finished with a career-best 13 points to go along with three rebounds, two steals and a block. Dawson netted 11 points, pulled down four rebounds and notched four assists and three steals.
 
GVSU will face a tough test on Monday, as top-ranked and undefeated Ashland University arrives to face the Lakers at GVSU Fieldhouse Arena in Allendale, Michigan. Tip-off for that game is set for 5:00 p.m.