SAGINAW, Mich.—After trailing for all but 21 seconds of Saturday afternoon's game with the Saginaw Valley State Cardinals, the GVSU women's basketball team mounted a furious fourth quarter rally to nearly steal the victory, ultimately falling just short in a 68-65 loss. The comeback effort involved outscoring the home squad 22-11 in the final quarter to chip away at a 14-point deficit entering the final quarter of play.
 
With the loss, the Lakers fall to 16-6 overall (11-5 GLIAC)  on the season, and fall three games back of SVSU (18-4 overall, 14-2 GLIAC) in the North Division standings. GVSU was led in scoring by 18 points from Taylor Parmley on 7-11 shooting from the field, while also receiving 11 from Janae Langs.
 
After scoring on their first possession of the game, it didn't take long for the Cardinals to build up a lead in the first quarter, taking a quick 8-3 lead with less than eight minutes remaining in the first.  With just under three minutes to go, the Cardinals opened up a 17-7 lead, only to see the Lakers hit back-to-back triples to slim it down to four points with 30 ticks remaining in the quarter.  A Cardinal triple with five seconds left made the score 22-15 at the end of one quarter.
 
In the second quarter, the Lakers would trade baskets back and forth with the Cardinals for the first half of the quarter, only to see SVSU extend the lead to double-digits several times in the latter half of the quarter.  A layup by the Cardinal's Anna Hall made the score 37-24 with just over two minutes left to play, and a Taylor Lutz layup with 1:05 remaining in the half made it a 38-28 halftime margin.
 
A quick six points by Katelyn Carriere and an Anna Hall layup to open the third quarter extended the lead to 46-28, with the 18-point margin marking SVSU's largest lead of the game.  The Lakers would wittle away at the lead, twice getting it down to 10 points at 4:24 and 3:26 remaining in the quarter. After six straight Cardinal points, the Lakers got a jumper from Bailey Cairnduff to close out the quarter to make the score 57-43.
 
After exchanging buckets to open the fourth quarter, the Lakers began to climb back into the game slowly, With 7:38 left to go, the Lakers got a layup from Korynn Hincka, a 3-pointer from Jenn DeBoer and a jumper from Janae Langs to slim a 61-47 deficit into a 61-54 score.  After the Cardinals extended the lead to nine points with 3:24 remaining, Parmley would score six straight points on two layups and a jumper, the last coming with under a minute left to make the score 65-62. After the Lakers got the ball back with 35 seconds left, Parmley missed a three-pointer and were forced to foul to get the ball back. After two free throws from Emily Wendling, the Cardinals moved ahead 67-62 with seven seconds left. Taylor Lutz hit a trifecta on the ensuing possession, cutting the lead to 67-65.
 
SVSU would split a pair of free throws on the ensuing possession after a Laker foul, providing GVSU another chance at a game-tying shot. However, the Lakers would turn the ball over on the final possession, ending the game.
 
The Lakers shot 25-63 (39.7 percent) from the field and 7-25 (28 percent) from beyond the arc in the game, while SVSU shot 25-51 (49 percent) from the field and 7-11 (63.6 percent) from beyond the arc.