The Grand Valley State women's basketball team earned a lopsided 73-40 road victory over GLIAC opponent Tiffin on Saturday (Jan. 13) afternoon. The Lakers put on a defensive show throughout the contest as Tiffin was denied double-digits in two quarters while only scoring 14 and 12 in the others. With the victory, the Lakers improve to 14-3 overall and 7-2 in GLIAC play while the Dragons fall to 6-11 and 2-7 in league action.
 
The Laker defense was in top form this afternoon, as they forced the Dragons to shoot just 30.8% from the field and 15.8% from beyond the arc while also forcing Tiffin into 17 turnovers. GVSU also tallied nine steals and four blocks in the defensive clinic while the Dragons 40 points scored is the fewest the Lakers have allowed all season. Offensively, GVSU shot 45.2% from the field on 28-62 shooting. More than half of the Lakers points (48) were scored in the paint and they tallied 16 second chance points thanks to outrebounding the Dragons 49-27. The Lakers also didn't allow Tiffin to grab a single offensive rebound in the contest.
 
Much of the Lakers success in the paint came from their two centers as sophomore Cassidy Boensch tallied a double-double with 15 points and 11 rebounds while senior Korynn Hincka also poured in 15 points and pulled down three rebounds. Boensch also rejected two shots while Hincka also picked up a block to go along with her two assists. Sophomore guard Jenn DeBoer posted another solid game, picking up 11 points on 4-10 shooting to go along with an assist and three steals.
 
The Lakers quickly jumped out to a 7-0 lead to start the game after a jumper from Natalie Koenig connected just a few seconds into play and was quickly followed by a Hincka layup who proceeded to hit a triple at the 7:39 mark. Tiffin quickly cut into the lead with a couple of jumpers before a 3-pointer hit and cut the Lakers lead to 11-7 with 5:00 minutes to go. GVSU answered with a couple of free throws and a Boensch layup to open up an eight-point lead, 15-7. GVSU kept the pressure on the Dragons and outscored them 5-0 over the final four minutes of play to take a commanding 20-7 lead into the second.
 
A Taylor Parmley layup just :11 seconds into the second upped the Laker lead to 15, 22-7, but the Dragons connected on a 3-pointer and hit a jumper off of a Laker turnover to cut the lead to 10. Almost 2:30 minutes ticked off the play clock before either team would score again but a Hincka jumper ended the drought at the 6:28 mark. Over the next few minutes, the teams traded buckets back and forth but the Laker lead never dipped below 10 points. Boensch hit a jumper with :36 seconds left to give GVSU the 13-point lead but a couple of free throws from the Dragons before the half ended brought the score to 32-21.
 
A jumper form Parmley got the scoring started in the second half but was quickly answered by a jumper from the Dragons just a few seconds later. By the 6:38 mark in the third the Lakers had steadily built on their lead and were up by 14 points, 41-27, after a DeBoer triple found the bottom of the net. After trading points back and forth, another 3-pointer from the Lakers, this time from Hincka, fell and pushed their lead to 15 with 4:10 left on the clock. Much like the first quarter, the Laker defense completely shut down the Dragon attack while the Laker offense kept rolling as they continued to add to their lead which eventually swelled up to 22 points by the 1:18 mark, 53-31, after a pair of free throws from Parmley. The Dragons managed to hit a jumper with :04 seconds left to put the score at 53-33 heading into the fourth. Prior to the last second shot, the Laker defense had held the Dragons scoreless for over four minutes of game time.
 
Somehow, the Lakers managed to outdo their defensive performance in the middle of the third quarter by holding Tiffin scoreless for the first 4:43 of the fourth quarter, which allowed them to open a 31-point lead. It would be almost another three minutes before the Dragons would manage to get another shot to fall at the 2:22 mark to make it 68-38. One last jumper from the Dragons would round out their scoring in the fourth quarter as the Laker defense allowed just seven points in the final 10 minutes of play.
 
GVSU will be back in action next Thursday (Jan. 18) in their second of three "Downtown Thursday" games as they are scheduled to take on Lake Superior State at the DeltaPlex Arena in Grand Rapids, Mich.