MARQUETTE, Mich. – The Grand Valley State women's basketball team wasn't perfect in Thursday night's 70-49 victory over Northern Michigan. They didn't have to be, because Taylor Parmley was perfect from the field (8-8 FG) and scored 23 points to lead the Lakers to their second victory over Northern Michigan at Berry Events Center in Marquette, Michigan.
 
Parmley's perfect effort from the field bested her previous game high of 19 points, set on December 20^th against U of M-Dearborn. She missed just one shot during the game, a free throw, and score 17 of her 23 in the second half alone. Kayla Dawson chipped in 18 for the Lakers off 7-11 shooting from the field, while Tucker hauled in 15 boards, just missing a double-double with eight points.
 
Grand Valley would score first in the game off of a Piper Tucker layup, and would extend the early lead to 5-0 off of a Dawson triple. After a Cairnduff triple got the lead to 12-6, Northern would rattle off four straight points to close the gap. Dawson and Tucker would sandwich a Wildcat layup between one of their own to end the first quarter with a 16-13 lead.
 
In the second quarter, GVSU outscored the Wildcats by a 15-6 margin, getting five points apiece from Dawson and Parmley. Janae Langs would score the last bucket of the first half with a minute and a half left in quarter, putting the Lakers up 31-19 at the break. After dropping below 40 percent shooting in the first quarter, the Lakers finished the half shooting 44.8 percent from the field, while the Wildcats were shooting at just a 29.6 percent clip, and were just 1-9 from three point range.
 
After falling behind by 12 at halftime, Northern Michigan found life in the third quarter, starting the quarter on a 10-4 run out of the break. Grand Valley would find themselves up just 38-31 after a Bre Gaspervich layup with three and a half minutes left in the third quarter, which was all the motivation Taylor Parmley needed to take control. Parmley scored six points before the end of the quarter, and while Gaspervich hit a layup to end the quarter with NMU just six points down, 46-40, the third quarter would be the only quarter in which the Wildcats outscored the Lakers, and in the fourth quarter, it would be the Lakers turn to heat up.
 
Initially, the Wildcats looked poised to take control of the final frame, cutting the lead to 46-42 with nine minutes left in the fourth quarter off of a Taylor Hodell free throw. From that point on, the Lakers would go on a 12-1 run, with Parmley at the head. She would score 11 points in the final quarter alone as the Lakers outscored Northern 24-9 in the final frame, coasting to a comfortable 71-49 win.
 
Grand Valley finished the day 46.3 percent (25-54) from the field, and won despite hitting just two triples in the game, well below their season average of 9.7 made threes per game, and their lowest output from beyond the arc this season. The Lakers did, however attempt a season high 24 free throws in the game, hitting 18 of them. The offense was effective and took care of the ball, committing just seven turnovers over the duration.
 
On defense, the Lakers held the Wildcats below 50 points, thanks to just 32.7 percent (18 of 55) shooting from the field, and 6-20 (30%) from beyond the arc. The Wildcats had 16 turnovers, which led to 16 Grand Valley points, and were outrebounded 40-32. Chloe Tompkins led the way for the Wildcats with 17 points.
 
The Lakers now set their sights ahead to Sunday's game with Michigan Tech, 74-53 winners against Ferris State on Thursday night. Tip off is set for 12:00 pm.