ASHLAND, Ohio—Defense won out over offense in Friday's Midwest Regional Tournament matchup between the Grand Valley State women's basketball team and Ursuline College, as the Lakers advanced with a 73-66 win. GVSU's second ranked scoring defense held the ninth ranked scoring offense in Division II in check as the team improved to 24-7 on the season.
 
Piper Tucker led the way with 17 points and five rebounds, while Taylor Parmley (13 points, eight rebounds) and Janae Langs (10 points) both finished in double digits for GVSU. Great Midwest Athletic Conference Player of the Year Laney Lewis finished with 19 points, 13 rebounds and six blocks, while guard Natalie Koenig notched 26 points for the Arrows, who dropped to 23-8 on the season.
 
Grand Valley State outrebounded the Arrows 47-32, including an 11-9 edge on the offensive glass. The Lakers shot 27-61 (44.3 percent) from the field despite 12 blocked shots from the Arrows, and was an efficient 7-16 (43.8 percent) from beyond the arc. Defensively, GVSU forced Ursuline into 10 turnovers and held their top-ten offense to just 24-66 (36.4 percent) from the field and 8-29 (27.6 percent) from beyond the arc, amounting to a total 14 points below their season average.
 
The Lakers fell behind 4-2 early on an Ursuline triple, the two point deficit marking the largest the Lakers would face in the contest. After Lewis hit back to back triples to put the Arrows up 10-8 halfway through the first quarter, GVSU rattled off 12 straight points to close out the quarter, beginning with a three-pointer from backup center Korynn Hincka. The Lakers then got three layups in a row from Cassidy Boensch, Hincka and Langs, before Bailey Cairnduff sank a trifecta with 44 seconds left in the quarter to push the score to 20-10.
 
After the teams traded layups to open the second quarter, Tucker sank a triple to push the lead to 25-12, a figure that did not last long as the Arrows scored five straight points to pull within eight, 27-17 with just under six minutes left. Later, the Arrows cut the lead to 27-20 on a free throw by Camryn Hill, only to see the Lakers close out the quarter on a 7-3 run to go into the halftime break with a 34-23 lead.
 
Ursuline's offense came out much improved in the third quarter, as they outscored the Lakers 24-17 to get the lead to within four points. Opening the quarter with back to back layups by Koenig and Hill, the Arrows then fell behind 43-29 after a Parmley free throw, a Tucker jumper and triples from Tucker and Langs, two of seven triples the Lakers hit in the game. The Arrows did not back down, however, and outscored the Lakers 10-4 over the next two minutes to pull within eight, 47-39, and then added a triple and solo free throw two minutes later from Koenig to pull with four with 1:33 remaining in the third quarter. After a Parmley layup and a Hincka jumper, Ursuline sank a pair of free throws and a jumper as time expired in the third to keep the deficit at four entering the final quarter of play, 51-47.
 
After seeing their lead dwindle through the third quarter of play, the Lakers responded in a big way in the final frame, opening the quarter on a 12-2 run to seize control of the game for good. Cairnduff began the quarter with a triple followed by a Parmley layup and a Tucker trifecta shortly thereafter. Tucker then hit a layup, which Ursuline answered with one of their own, and Boensch hit a pair of free throws to cap the run with the score at 63-49. Ursuline would battle back, however, as Koenig hit a layup, followed by her teammate Brigan Wymer to pull the score to 63-53. After Laker freshman Jenn DeBoer scored a layup, Lewis scored a bucket and teammate Erica Huber sank a triple to pull within seven, 65-58 with 3:42 left to play.
 
Ursuline sandwiched a Parmley layup between two of their own to cut the Laker lead to five, but missed a layup o the next possession and were forced to foul to get the ball back. Langs sank both resulting free throws with 48 seconds left, and after another missed shot and Laker rebound, the Arrows put Boensch on the line, who sank both free throws to get the lead to a comfy 71-62 lead. A Koenig layup with two seconds left was the final score of the game to bring the contest to a 73-66 final.