ASHLAND, Ohio.—The postseason journey for the Grand Valley State women's basketball team ended abruptly on Sunday, as the Lakers fell to #1 Ashland in a pitched and hard fought affair, 77-62. GVSU ends the season at 24-8 overall after making their second straight NCAA Tournament appearance.
 
Janae Langs led GVSU with 16 points in her final game in a Laker uniform, collecting five rebounds, six assists and three steals as well. Bailey Cairnduff added 13 points, while Korynn Hincka notched 12 .
 
The Lakers fell to Ashland (33-0) for the third time this season, but not for lack of effort. Grand Valley State fell behind 27-18 after the first quarter, but outscored the Eagles 15-7 in the second quarter to climb within one point at the halftime break, 34-33. It was in the third quarter that the Eagles would start to pull away with a 19-14 advantage in the frame, and would further outpace GVSU in the final quarter of play, 24-15.
 
Ashland got off to a hot start early in the first quarter by scoring the first four points of the game, and after a Cairnduff triple, scored eight straight points to go ahead 12-3 with 7:13 remaining in the quarter. Later, after the Lakers found their stride offensively and brought it to 14-9 , the Eagles would stretch the lead to 20-11 with two and a half minutes left to play, before later closing out the quarter on a 4-0 run capped by a pair of free throws by GLIAC Player of the Year Laina Snyder to get the margin to 27-18 at the end of the first quarter.
 
After the Eagles opened up the second quarter with six straight points to pull ahead 32-18, GVSU got layups from Hincka and Langs to trim the margin to 10 points. Snyder later hit a layup with 4:22 left, Ashland's final points of the quarter, putting Ashland up 34-22. Hincka then hit a layup, followed by a layup from freshman Cassidy Boensch to get to 34-28. With seconds left in the second quarter, Langs sank a pair of free throws, then stole the resulting inbounds pass and launched a three pointer at the buzz, which went in and brought the Lakers to within one point of the eagles at the break.
 
Coming out of the break, the Lakers took a 35-34 lead on a Cairnduff jumper, which Ashland answered with a triple from Snyder to get to 37-35. Tucker would tie the game up at 37-37 on a layup two minutes later, only to see Ashland go on a 9-1 run to take a 49-42 lead. After some back and forth play between the teams, Ashland ended the quarter with a 53-47 lead heading into the final quarter of play.
 
GVSU refused to go away in the final quarter, keeping within striking distance until about four minutes left, when they began to pull away with several consecutive baskets. A trifecta by Ashland's Jodi Johnson pushed the lead to double digits at 71-59, A triple by Taylor Lutz with 1:19 left got the score to 73-62, but GVSU would get no loser than that, as Ashland sank free throws down the stretch to seal the victory.