Grand Valley State University Athletics

The Grand Valley State women's basketball team outlasted the Tritons of Missouri-St. Louis for a close 61-58 victory on Saturday (Nov. 11) night in Missouri St. Louis. The game got off to an unusual start, as the host school Missouri-St. Louis was forced to move venue after the malfunction of one of their hoops, which caused the game to be delayed almost two hours. The late start didn't seem to affect the Lakers much as they took a 40-28 lead into halftime before the Tritons stormed back in the second half, outscoring the Lakers 30-21 in the final two quarters. Fortunately for GVSU, they stayed composed and rode their large first half lead into a victory and will head back to Allendale with a 2-0 record.
 
The Lakers shot 48.8% from the field, including hitting 6-16 three-point attempts (.375), while also shooting a clutch 15-17 from the charity stripe.
 
Junior Natalie Koenig led the Lakers in scoring, putting up a game-high 21 points on 6-11 shooting, including going 6-7 from the free-throw line. Koenig also pulled down three rebounds and picked up an assist as well. Sophomore Jenn DeBoer posted her second double-digit performance of the weekend, as she picked up 11 points in the contest and also pulled down three rebounds. DeBoer shot only two free throws in the game but they came in the last few seconds and gave GVSU their final three-point lead.
 
Taylor Parmley pulled down a team-high six rebounds while picking up eight points as well. Cassidy Boensch shot 3-4 from both the field and the free-throw line to pick up nine points, while Korynn Hincka tallied eight points and five rebounds.
 
GVSU opened the contest with a three-pointer from DeBoer, who answered a layup from the Tritons with one of her own for the quick 5-2 lead. The Tritons picked up a pair of layups to take a one-point lead at the 7:00 minute mark but the Lakers quickly regained the lead with back-to-back layups of their own just a few seconds later. The Lakers built up a 16-8 lead after a Koenig three-pointer was followed up with a pair of free throws from Parmley. The Tritons closed out the first quarter on an 8-2 run to cut the Laker lead to just two heading into the second quarter of play.
 
After a brief 23-23 tie two minutes into the second quarter, the Lakers opened the floodgates and outscored UMSL 11-3 over the next four minutes to take the 34-26 lead. Natalie Koenig took over in the last 2:00 minutes of the half, scoring five points on two free throws and an old fashioned three-point play to give GVSU the 40-28 lead heading into the break.
 
The Lakers struggled offensively in the third quarter, scoring just seven points after putting up 22 in the second quarter. Luckily for GVSU, a mixture of their stingy defense and some missed shots from the Tritons saw UMSL only manage to put up 12 points in the quarter. An opening three-pointer from the Tritons was followed up with a quick jumper to bring the score to 40-33 in favor of the Lakers with almost 9:00 minutes to play. The Lakers answered by scoring the next seven points for the 47-33 advantage that included three points from Koenig and two points apiece from DeBoer and Boensch. The Lakers were held scoreless for the final three and a half minutes of play, which gave UMSL the chance to chip the Laker lead to seven points at 47-40 heading into the fourth quarter.
 
The Tritons opened the fourth quarter in an offensive flurry, as they scored the first 10 points of the frame to take the 50-47 lead with 7:30 left to play. A three-pointer from Hincka tied the game at 52 and the Lakers took the two-point lead on a Parmley jumper. Hincka followed the Parmley make with another clutch three to extend the Laker lead to five at 57-52. UMSL tied the game once again on three-straight made free throws but a clutch jumper from Koenig and two made free throws from DeBoer closed out the game and secured the 61-58 Laker victory.
 
The Lakers will have a few days off before hosting Indianapolis in their home opener next Friday (Nov. 17) night. Tipoff for that game is set for 7:00 PM. GVSU then hosts Lewis on Sunday (Nov. 19) for a 1:00 PM matinee matchup.