ASHLAND, Ohio—The Grand Valley State women's basketball team played their best game of the season when it mattered most, battling top-ranked and undefeated Ashland University every step of the way before falling in the GLIAC tournament title game on Sunday, 85-76. GVSU was threatening the Eagles with the upset throughout the game, hanging close but coming up short on several plays down the stretch.
 
Taylor Parmley scored a career-high 25 points to go along with seven rebounds and four assists, while Piper Tucker added 17 points and Janae Langs chipped in 12.
 
After hanging close in the first half, the Lakers fell behind the Eagles by double-digits in the third quarter, but rallied to wittle down the margin in the fourth quarter. With 8:13 left in the fourth quarter, consecutive buckets from Tucker and Bailey Cairnduff and a triple from Janae Langs gave GVSU a 68-66 lead, which got pushed to 71-66 on a Tucker triple with 5:08 left in the game. The Eagles fought back, however, and tied the game at 73-73 with 3:13 left to play on a pair of free throws from Andi Daugherty, and jumped out to a 77-74 lead with 1:09 left after two quick layups from Daugherty.
 
A missed layup by Parmley on the other end forced the Lakers to foul to try and get the ball back, putting Ashland's Alex Henning on the line. Henning missed both free throws, however the Lakers were unable to secure the crucial rebound on the second miss, and Ashland regained control. The resulting free throws from Daugherty put the Eagles up 79-73, and after a missed three-pointer by GVSU on the other end, the Eagles got another pair of free throws. Two more misses on the other end by Grand Valley State, and the Eagles sank another pair of free shots to further put the game on ice. Langs would sink a jumper with one second left on the clock, but it was of little consequence, as the Eagles took the game by an 86-75 final score.
 
The game began with an electrifying offensive display, as neither team struggled to score and the teams ran out to 47 combined first quarter points by converting on 18-29 field goal attempts. That offense continued in the second quarter for Ashland, as the Eagles score 25 second quarter points. GVSU scored a modest 17 points, however, and would trail Ashland by a seven-point margin at the halftime break, 48-41. The result from the second half mirrored the regular season contest between the two teams, as the Lakers trailed Ashland by a slight margin at the halftime break and fell behind in the second half as the Eagles continued to flex their efficiency on offense.
 
Both teams worked heavily in the paint in the contest, as the Lakers held a slight 44-42 margin in points scored in the paint. Each side also shot 50 percent or better, with the Lakers ending 31-62 from the field and Ashland converting on 33-59 attempts (55.9 percent). Ashland held a 37-25 edge in rebounding, including hauling in 12 offensive boards to score 17 second chance points, as they did off the late missed free throws down the stretch.
 
Daugherty ended the game with a double-double of 25 points and 11 boards, while 2016-17 GLIAC Player of the Year Laina Snyder was held in check by early foul trouble and finished with just eight points, five assists and three rebounds.

GVSU's Janae Langs and Taylor Parmley were named to the All-Tournament Team for their play in the three-game span. With a three-pointer with 26 ticks left in the third quarter, Tucker became the 24th player in program history to surpass the 1,000 point plateau, joining classmate Kayla Dawson as active players to reach the milestone.
 
Without claiming the outright berth afforded to the conference tournament champion, the Lakers will now await their fate in the NCAA Selection show Sunday evening at 10:00 PM, hoping for an at-large bid. That show can be viewed by following the links of the NCAA schedule here.