ALLENDALE, Mich.—It was a different season but the same result, as the Grand Valley State women's basketball team handily defeated the Wayne State Warriors at home for the second straight season on Thursday, 66-37. The win improves GVSU to 12-4 on the season, and 7-3 in the GLIAC.
 
Three Lakers scored in double figures to lead the way, led by 17 points from Kayla Dawson. Bailey Cairnduff chipped in 14 points on 5-9 shooting (4-8 3-Pt.), while Piper Tucker added 12 points.
 
In a similar narrative from last season's 74-39 victory over the Warriors at GVSU Fieldhouse on January 2^nd, the Lakers stymied Wayne State's offense at every turn in holding them to a season-low 37 points on Thursday. Dogged by tough defense, the Warriors shot just 24.6 percent from the field (14-57) and a dismal 18.5 percent (5-27) from beyond the arc in the contest. Additionally, the Warriors committed 21 turnovers, which led to 20 points for the Lakers on their home court.
 
The game started off in similar fashion for GVSU as their last game, a victory at Lake Superior State last Saturday. In both games, the Lakers held their opponents to just three points in the entire first quarter, while jumping out to sizeable early leads of their own. On Thursday, Cairnduff got the Lakers on the board on their first possession with a jumper, which was quickly followed by a Dawson jumper as the Lakers stole away the ball. A minute later, a rebound and long pass up court to a streaking Tucker set up her fast break layup to put GVSU up 6-0. A Taylor Lutz triple with 3:18 remaining capped off the 11-0 run to start the game, and after the Warriors answered with their only basket of the quarter, the Lakers would fashion an 18-3 first quarter lead with a 7-0 run.
 
The second quarter of play saw Cairnduff hit trifectas on consecutive possessions in between Wayne State buckets to extend the lead to a first half high of 17. Wayne State would claw back in with a layup and two triples to cut the lead down to eight, 24-15, with 4:47 left to play in the quarter, but the Lakers closed out the half on an 8-2 run to lead 32-17 at the break. The Warriors had been held to just 24 percent from the field at the half, and had twice as many turnovers (12) as made baskets (6).
 
Opening the third quarter on a 7-2 run, the Lakers extended the lead out to 20, 39-19, with 8:39 left to play in the third. After the Warriors added three quick points, the Lakers fired back with two straight baskets from Tucker and later, a trifecta from Dawson. That brief lead of 24 was trimmed down to 18 by two quick triples form Wayne State to close out the third quarter, still trailing 46-28.
 
In the fourth quarter, the Warriors would get no closer than 19 points, and would yield 20 points to the Lakers compared to just nine of their own. GVSU reached a game-high lead of 29 points on a final four points to close out the game and secure the 66-37 win. That total marked the lowest amount of points surrendered by Grand Valley State this season, beating the previous low of 39 scored by Tiffin at GVSU Fieldhouse Arena on December 17^th.
 
GVSU ended the game shooting 38.6 percent (22-57) from the field and 10-30 (33.3 percent) from beyond the arc. Two Lakers had career nights, as Lutz bested her previous career high for assists (7) by dishing out eight dimes in the contest. She also added six rebounds and four points. Fellow guard Janae Langs set a new career best in rebounds by hauling in 11 caroms in the game, one more than her previous high, set against Truman State earlier this season. Langs dished out three assists and notched four steals in the game as well.
 
Impressively, the Lakers amassed 22 assists on 22 made shots, an impressive feat in and of itself. GVSU hauled in 46 rebounds, outmatching their opponents total of 40, and was 12-17 from the charity stripe (70.6 percent).
 
GVSU returns to action with a Saturday afternoon tilt against Saginaw Valley State, set for a noon tip-off.