vs. Saginaw Valley State (Thursday, 6:00 p.m.): Watch | Listen | Live Stats | Game Notes
 
at Hillsdale (Saturday, 1:00 p.m.): Listen | Live Stats | Game Notes

ALLENDALE, Mich.— The Grand Valley State women's basketball team enters the most important stretch of games of the season on Thursday, as they host the Saginaw Valley State Cardinals for the first of three final games of the season, before heading to Hillsdale on Saturday for the final regular season road game of the season. With the GLIAC standings posing as a veritable logjam (five teams trailing top seeded Ashland in a five way tie at 14-5), the Lakers have the benefit of three quite winnable games to close out their season and make some noise in the standings.
 
There are links above to follow along to the radio broadcast of both games, as well as links to follow the live stats. The games will be aired on WTKG-AM 1230, with fifth year play-by-play announcer DJ Foster calling the action. Thursday's game against Saginaw Valley State will also be televised live on CN900 (Comcast XFinity).
 
Thursday's game against Saginaw Valley - "The Battle of the Valleys"-  represents a must-win situation for the Lakers, as the Cardinals are one of the five teams tied for second in the GLIAC, and SVSU owns the edge in earlier matchups this season, having beaten Grand Valley 68-65 in Saginaw back on January 28^th. The Cardinals are led by junior forward Emily Wendling, a five time GLIAC Player of the Week and the conference's leading scorer at 18.8 points per game. In the January loss, the Lakers held Wendling to just 13 points on 4-9 shooting, but allowed the SVSU freshman duo of Halee Nieman and Anna Hall to score 18 and 15 points, respectively.
 
If there is an ace in the hole for the Lakers this season, it has been the impressive display they have put in at home this season, time after time. In addition to being 11-1 at home this season, with the only loss coming to Ashland, Grand Valley has amassed an impressive scoring margin in home games. In games played at GVSU Fieldhouse Arena this season, Grand Valley has averaged 75.2 points per game, while allowing their opponents an average of just 47.6 points. Far from being a fluke, those numbers are indicative of the defensive approach for the Lakers this season that has seen them become the top team in the conference in points allowed on the season.
 
In the previous matchup between the two teams, Grand Valley got 17 points from Kayla Dawson, and 16 points from Brionna Barnett, but the team shot just 40 percent (24-59) from the field and 30.3 percent (10-33) from beyond the arc. While the Lakers got the looks they wanted from the three point arc, they weren't able to convert on enough of those looks to hurt the Cardinals. Grand Valley has been ranked near the very top in Division II all season in made three point field goals per game, yet in their past four games have made just 22 triples, well below their season average. With six players shooting 34 percent or better from beyond the arc this season, the Lakers should continue to find success shooting the three-ball as they have all season.
 
Coming into the week's games in a slim second place in the GLIAC in scoring, Grand Valley (74.0 ppg) trails only Ashland (77.2) in offensive output this season. Shooting 44.2 percent from the field and 38.1 percent from three point land (2^nd in the GLIAC), the Lakers have had no trouble scoring this season, scoring 70 or more points in 17 of their 25 games thus far. Junior forward Kayla Dawson has never been better, averaging a career high 16.9 points and etching her name into the record books last Thursday by becoming the 23^rd Laker to join the 1,000 career points club. With second leading scorer Brionna Barnett sidelined by injury, other Lakers have stepped up to fill the scoring void. Winger Bailey Cairnduff continues to average a steady 10.2 points, while forwards Piper Tucker and Taylor Parmley chip in 9.1 and 8.0 points, respectively.
 
Parmley's impact has surged after the loss of backup center and leading rebounder Korynn Hincka to a season ending injury. After an eight game stretch in which she did not score in double digits, Parmley has scored in double digits in three of the past four games, including a pair of twenty point games against Northern Michigan and Northwood. In her past five games, Parmley has been electric from the field, averaging 14.8 points on an incredible 72 percent shooting from the field, while averaging 20 minutes per game. Last Saturday's game against Northwood saw her briefly tie a 30 year old record for field goal percentage in one game, as she hit her first nine field goal attempts, only to miss her 10^th shot with 45 seconds left in the game and barely miss setting the record herself.
 
Saturday's road game against Hillsdale College represents a trap game for the Lakers. While the teams earlier matchup (a 63-42 Laker victory on January 30^th) went in the Laker's favor by a wide margin, the Chargers would love nothing more than to play spoiler for Grand Valley at home and on their own Senior Night. Add in the Laker's road struggles (6-6 on the season), and the game presents a challenge for Grand Valley. The Chargers themselves are currently on a five game slide that started with the January 30^th loss to the Lakers in Allendale, and was prolonged most recently by a 58-57 loss to Northern Michigan at home on Thursday.
 
While no Charger averages double-digit points on the season, leading scorer Makenna Ott scored a career high 23 against the Wildcats, and will look to improve upon her last performance against Grand Valley, in which she went 1-6 from the field and scored two points. Also in the mix for the Chargers is 6-1 center Allie Dittmer, who notched a double-double in the January loss for the Chargers and is averaging 7.5 points and 6.8 rebounds per game on the season.
 
The Chargers average 66.2 points per game as a unit, which is 10^th in the GLIAC in that category. They are also the 2^nd best rebounding team in the conference, at 41.2 boards per game, and fight for the most offensive boards in the GLIAC, at 15.1 per contest. Hillsdale also commits the second most turnovers in the conference, turning the ball over more than 19 times a game, allowing teams to turn those extra possessions into points, as Hillsdale allows 70 points per game, the second highest mark behind Wayne State (72.2).
 
Tip off for Thursday night's "Battle of the Valleys" is set for 6:00 p.m at GVSU Fieldhouse Arena in Allendale, Michigan. In games beginning after 5 p.m this season, GVSU is 10-3 on the season. Saturday's game is set for a 1:00 pm tip off at Dawn Tibbetts Arena in Hillsdale, Michigan.