ALLENDALE, Mich.—The Grand Valley State women's basketball team faltered after running out to an early lead, dropping a close game with in-state rival SVSU on Thursday, 75-71. The loss drops the Lakers to 18-8 on the season, and 13-7 in the GLIAC.
 
Bailey Cairnduff had 20 points for Grand Valley, while Kayla Dawson added 16, but the Lakers struggled down the stretch in dropping a second matchup to SVSU this season.
 
The first quarter of the game played out like a dream for GVSU, as Bailey Cairnduff scored five quick points for Grand Valley after the Cardinals scored the first points of the game on a layup. After a pair of free throws from GLIAC leading scorer Emily Wendling, Grand Valley got a layup from Taylor Parmley, two triples from Taylor Lutz and a triple from Bailey Cairnduff to go on top, 15-4. After a Cardinal layup closed the gap to 17-9 with three and a half minutes left, a jumper by Parmley and a triple from Kayla Dawson would put the Lakers up 22-9, before an SVSU triple ended the quarter with the Lakers up, 22-12.
 
If the first quarter was a dream for the Lakers, then the second period was a nightmare, as the Cardinals took flight on a 17-3 run to get back into the game, capped off with a triple from Danielle Carriere, one of seven for her on the night, with two and a half minutes left in the second quarter. The run turned a 10 point deficit into a four point lead, and even though the Lakers got baskets late in the second quarter from Parmley and Janae Langs, the Cardinals got back on top by four, and would still carry a two point lead into half after a pair of Kayla Dawson free throws with 23 seconds left.
 
After shooting 50 percent in the first quarter, including five three pointers, the Lakers shooting percentage by the halftime break had dipped to just 40 percent from the field, and 33 percent from beyond the arc. The Lakers were being outrebounded 20-11, and were being outscored in the paint 12-4.
 
Coming out of the break, Grand Valley scored a quick triple from Bailey Cairnduff, and after a defensive stop, added a Langs jumper to get back on top by three points with eight minutes remaining in the third quarter. The Cardinals would slowly win back the lead, however, and got the margin first to four points off a Danielle Carriere triple with just under five minutes left to play, and then following a Dawson layup, got it to five with yet another Carriere triple. The Lakers would close out the quarter with a layup by Piper Tucker and a Cairnduff triple, leaving the margin at just one point entering the final frame.
 
In the fourth quarter, it was once again the Lakers who struck first, as a Lindsay Baker triple got GVSU back on top by one point. After a pair of SVSU free throws, Dawson added a triple, which SVSU answered with a layup, and Baker answered back with a trey to get the Lakers on top by four points with a little over seven minutes left. The largest Laker lead of the quarter would come courtesy of Dawson, as she would steal the SVSU inbounds pass following a Parmley layup, lay it up and in for two and draw a foul shot for a chance at a three point play, and the lead at eight. Dawson's freebie missed it's mark, and the Cardinals would hit two straight triples, one from Danielle Carriere and one from her sister Katelyn, to cut that margin down to just two points.
 
After Cairnduff hit her fifth trey of the game to get the score to 68-63, GVSU, the Cardinals would hold GV scoreless on three straight possessions, and get three straight buckets form Emily Wendling to erase the Laker lead and go up by one point, 69-68. With just 17 seconds left and the Cardinals in possession of the ball and the lead after a Laker miss, Grand Valley was forced to try and foul to get the ball back, and the Cardinals would hit six straight free throws to seal the victory down the stretch.
 
Grand Valley did a good job for most of the game limiting Wendling, the GLIAC's leading scorer at 18.8 points per game, however she scored eight points in the final frame to finish with 20 points on 8-15 shooting. Danielle Carriere led SVSU with 23 points, going 7-10 from beyond the arc, while sister Katelyn nearly recorded a triple-double with 15 points, 11 rebounds and nine assists. The Cardinals outrebounded the Lakers 40-28, and had 11 second chance points as a result. Wendling's presence in the post was felt, as the team had an edge in points in the paint, 28-16.
 
Three Lakers scored nine points apiece. Lindsay Baker and Taylor Lutz each had three triples each, while Taylor Parmley went 4-7 from the field and added a free throw. Langs led Grand Valley in rebounds, with six, while Dawson added five caroms.
 
The Lakers are next in action on Saturday, as they head to Hillsdale for a rematch with the Chargers. The Lakers handily defeated the Chargers, 63-42 in a January 30^th showdown at GVSU Fieldhouse Arena in Allendale, Michigan. The Chargers defeated Ferris State on Thursday to snap a five game losing streak.