Postgame interview with coach Mike Williams
ALLENDALE, Mich.—Four Lakers scored in double-digits to lead the Grand Valley State women's basketball team to a 68-55 win in the opening round of the 2017 GLIAC Tournament at GVSU Fieldhouse Arena on Tuesday night. The win improves GVSU to 22-6 on the season and earns them a semifinal matchup with #3 seed Saginaw Valley State, who handily defeated Northern Michigan at home to advance.
GVSU will now travel to Ashland University for a matchup with the Cardinals on Saturday, following the other semifinal contest between Ashland and fourth-seeded Michigan Tech. Tip-off for GVSU's contest is set for 4:00 p.m.
Piper Tucker led the way with 16 points, while
Taylor Lutz (11),
Janae Langs (11) and
Taylor Parmley (10) each reached double digits. The Lakers survived a career-best 32 points and 13 rebounds from senior forward Jordyn Nurenburg of the Timberwolves, holding the remainder of the Northwood team in check to earn the win.
The game got off to a slow start as both teams missed their first few shots before Northwood jumped out to a 5-0 lead. After the Lakers tied the game up at 5-5 with two quick buckets, the two teams exchanged buckets back and forth to battle to an 11-11 tie with 2:58 remaining in the first quarter. GVSU then got a layup from
Korynn Hincka, followed by a layup from Langs with 1:28 remaining. That would be the final score of the first quarter, as the Lakers led 15-11 at the end of one.
GVSU opened the second quarter with a Lutz layup and a pair of Parmley free throws to jump out to a 19-11 lead. Over the next few minutes, the Lakers answered several buckets from Nurenburg, and built the lead up to 28-18 briefly at the 4:58 mark. Northwood then went on a 12-4 run over the next two minutes to cut the lead to 32-30 with 1:45 remaining in the half. Not to be outdone by the visitors, the Lakers responded with a run of their own to close out the half, beginning with a Tucker layup, and followed by a pair of free throws and a layup from Lutz to give GVSU a 37-30 halftime lead.
In the third quarter, the Lakers took firm control of the game by outscoring the visitors 19-11. Opening the quarter with a
Bailey Cairnduff triple, the Lakers got the lead up to 10 and then 12 just a minute later on a pair of Parmley free throws. After Northwood battled back to close the lead to within five, 42-37 on an old-fashioned three-point play by Nurenburg, the Lakers would grow the lead in the closing minutes of the quarter. After three free throws from Northwood with 5:12 remaining made the score 46-40, the Lakers closed out the quarter on a 10-1 run to lead 56-41 at the end of three frames.
GVSU would extend the lead to a game-high 19 points on a Langs jumper with 8:19 left to play, and the deficit would get no closer than 13 points the remainder of the way, as the Lakers absorbed the scoring from Nurenburg and didn't let Northwood climb back into the game. By the end of the game, GVSU had shot 23-48 (47.9 percent) from the field and 7-14 (50 percent) from beyond the arc. Additionally, the Lakes shot 15-19 (79 percent) from the charity stripe, and outrebounded Northwood 33-28.
The Timberwolves, outside of Nurenburg, struggled to knock down shots, finishing 18-51 from the field (35.3 percent) and 3-15 (20 percent) from beyond the arc. Nurenburg finished 11-17 from the field, while the remainder of her team shot just 7-34 from the field.
