ALLENDALE, Mich.— A strong second quarter effort lifted the Grand Valley State women's basketball team to a decisive 78-50 victory over Lake Superior State on Saturday at GVSU Fieldhouse Arena. The Lakers improved to 18-6 on the season and 13-5 in the GLIAC by outscoring their northern counterparts in the final three quarters after a pitched back-and-forth affair in the first frame. Lake Superior State drops to 5-20 overall, and 3-15 in the GLIAC.
 
Janae Langs continued her strong play just two days after notching a 20 point-13 rebound double-double in GVSU's rout of Northwood on Thursday, posting 16 points (6-12 FG, 4-7 3-Pt.) and coming up just one rebound short of a second straight double-double, finishing with nine boards. Piper Tucker had a strong game as well, notching 14 points, three rebounds, three assists, three steals and a block.
 
GVSU had a strong shooting day against one of the GLIAC's friendliest defenses, shooting 27-59 (45.8 percent) from the field and 13-27 (48.1 percent) from beyond the arc against the 11^th ranked defense of the visiting Lakers of LSSU. Back-to-back three-pointers by Taylor Lutz and Tucker to open the game staked GVSU to a quick lead, only to see LSSU later tie the score up at 11-11 on a layup by Tamar Novic with 4:09 remaining in the first. After another LSSU basket, the Grand Valley State got layups from Tucker and Langs to take a 15-13 lead with just over a minute to play, only to see Lake Superior State end the quarter with one of seven triples they would hit in the game to take a 16-15 lead at the end of the first.
 
In the second quarter, Grand Valley State would break open the game by outscoring the visitors 22-11 in the quarter. After a Novic three-point play to begin the quarter, GVSU got a triple by Lutz, a free throw by Korynn Hincka and another triple by Langs in quick succession to take a 22-19 lead with eight minutes left in the quarter. Thus began a sequence of triples by both teams back and forth over the next few minutes, culminating in a Langs triple with 2:38 left to give GVSU a 31-25 lead. After a quick answer from LSSU in the form of a layup, Tucker, Hincka and Langs would score back-to-back-to-back baskets to open up a 37-27 halftime lead for GVSU.
 
After LSSU got the lead back to single digits with a layup early in the third, GVSU rattled off eight straight points over the next two minutes to open up the lead to 16, 45-29 with 6:14 left in the third quarter. After LSSU slowly chipped away at the lead over the next couple minutes to get it down to 12 points, the Lakers responded with five quick points to jump ahead by 17 points. An LSSU triple with five seconds left trimmed the margin to 54-40 as the teams entered the final quarter of play.
 
If the second and third quarters where were GVSU built their lead, it was the fourth quarter that put the nail in the coffin, as GVSU outscored LSSU 24-10 in the final quarter in coasting to the final 28-point margin. Cairnduff got the fourth started with a layup in the paint, which was followed by a pair of free throws by Lexie Khon of LSSU, a Lutz triple and a Khon triple all in quick succession, getting the score to 59-45 with 7:17 remaining in the game. LSSU would score just five points over the final seven minutes of play, while GVSU would rattle off 19 in the same span, 16 of those coming consecutively, turning the game into a rout by the final buzzer.
 
The GVSU defense was not as stout as usual, but still did plenty in holding LSSU to just 50 points on 42.9 percent shooting (18-42) from the field and 38.9 percent (7-18) from beyond the arc. Novic led her team with 13 points, eight rebounds and five assists. LSSU committed 14 turnovers on the day, which GVSU took advantage of to the tune of 20 points. Grand Valley State also held advantages in points in the paint (26-16), second chance points (22-4) and bench scoring (25-16), while outrebounding LSSU 33-25.
 
The Lakers return home for the final home games of the regular season next Thursday and Saturday, hosting Michigan Tech and Northern Michigan on those days, respectively.