The Grand Valley State women's basketball team lost in an overtime battle with #18 Michigan Tech, 85-81, on Thursday night at the DeltaPlex Arena in Grand Rapids, Mich. The loss moves the Lakers to 7-2 on the season and 2-1 in GLIAC play.
 
Taylor Parmley led the Laker offense, as the senior posted her second double-double of the season after pouring in 21 points and pulling down 11 rebounds. Parmley was deadly at the free throw line, hitting 11 of her 12 shots, while also picking up a couple of steals as well. Fellow senior Korynn Hincka also had a solid game, as the center collected 19 points and 11 7 rebounds. Other Lakers scoring in double digits were Jenn DeBoer (11 points), Natalie Koenig (11 points), and Cassidy Boensch (10 points).
 
The Lakers outrebounded the Huskies 40-26 as a team but Michigan Tech was lights out from the floor, hitting 32 of their 59 shots (54.2%) on the night. The Lakers also dominated the Huskies down low, scoring 44 of their points in the paint compared to Michigan Tech's 26.
 
The Lakers got off to a hot start to begin the game, as they outscored the Huskies 7-2 in the first two and a half minutes courtesy of layups from Parmley and DeBoer that were followed by a Koenig triple. A triple and two free throws from the Huskies tied the contest with just over six minutes to play in the first quarter. Another Koenig triple and a quick layup from Hincka extended the Laker lead to 5 before Hincka hit a triple of her own to take the 15-9 lead. An old fashioned three point play from DeBoer with 2:42 left to play put the Laker up 18-9. A Huskie triple and jumper sandwiched a DeBoer layup with just over a minute left and a final Michigan Tech jumper rounded out the scoring and GVSU entered the second quarter with a 20-14 lead.
 
The Huskies opened the scoring in the second quarter with a jumper just a few seconds into play but the Lakers answered with a Hincka jumper just a few seconds later to take a 22-16 lead. Three straight free throw shots for the Lakers extended their lead to 25-16 with 8:31 left in the quarter. A couple of Parmley layups followed a Michigan Tech jumper for the 27-18 lead with 6:20 left. The Huskies got the offense rolling over the next three minutes and a layup with 3:12 left to play tied the game at 29-29. The teams then traded buckets for a 31-31 tie but Michigan Tech hit a jumper at the 1:46 mark and then another at the 0:21 mark to take the 35-31 lead. Koenig hit a big three pointer with six seconds left to bring GVSU within just one heading into the half.
 
The Huskies carried their momentum into the start of the second half, outscoring the Lakers 6-1 in the first two minutes of play to extend their lead to 41-36. With the score 49-41 in favor of the Huskies just a few minutes later, the Lakers scored four straight, courtesy of a pair of Parmley free throws and a layup from Boensch to cut the lead to 49-44. The teams battled back and forth for the next four minutes with GVSU slowly cutting into the Michigan Tech lead until a Belke three pointer with 53 seconds left to play gave GVSU the 57-56 lead. Michigan Tech answered back with a jumper with 26 seconds left and took the one point lead heading into the fourth quarter.
 
A jumper from the Huskies opened up the scoring in the fourth quarter but GVSU quickly answered back with back to back jumpers of their own to take a 62-60 lead with just under eight minutes to play. The Lakers held onto their two point lead until the 6:57 mark when a jump shot from Michigan Tech cut the Laker lead to one 66-65. Free throws from Hincka and Parmley were followed by a layup from Belke that extended the lead to 70-65 with just over five minutes remaining. GVSU couldn't keep the Huskies at bay however, as Michigan Tech scored six straight points to take the 71-70 lead with 2:35 left to play. The Lakers erased the one point lead by the Huskies on a Hincka layup and the score was tied 74-74 with 28 seconds left to play. GVSU corralled a Huskie miss and called a timeout to draw up a play that almost worked but Hincka's jumper at the buzzer rolled out of the basket and the teams headed to overtime.
 
Neither team managed to score in the opening minute of extra time but a Parmley layup with 3:48 left to play ended the drought and gave the Lakers the 76-74 lead. After battling back and forth for the next three minutes, the Lakers found themselves down 80-79 with 1:12 left. A Boensch layup was quickly answered with a Michigan Tech jumper that would ultimately be the winning basket and the Lakers fell 85-81.
 
GVSU will be back in action this Saturday (Nov. 9) as they are set to host Northern Michigan in a 1:00 PM matinee matchup.