The Grand Valley State women's basketball team used a stout defense and an efficient offense to take down Lake Superior State, 80-40, on Thursday night (Jan. 18) at the DeltaPlex Arena. After outscoring LSSU 24-11 in the first quarter the Lakers held Lake Superior State to just five points in the second quarter to head into the half with a comfortable 49-16 lead. LSSU had a burst of offense to begin the second half but GVSU quickly stomped out the surge and rode their lead in the fourth quarter to earn the 40-point victory.

The Laker defense forced Lake Superior State to turn the ball over 28 times, which they converted into 29 points. GVSU also held the LSSU offense to just 34.9% shooting from the field, including just 4-15 (26.7%) from beyond the arc.

Grand Valley State also dominated down low in the contest, as they tallied 42 points in the paint compared to LSSU's 12, while also holding a 10-0 advantage in fast break points. The Lakers also got a lot of help from their bench who put in 36 points while Lake Superior's bench contributed just nine.

GVSU's offense was just as impressive in this contest, as they hit 61.2% (30-49) of their shots which blew out their previous season high of 58.0% in the Lakers victory over Bellarmine back on Nov. 26. A huge chunk of the Laker attack came from junior guard Natalie Koenig, who set a career-high with 22 points on an impressive 7-8 performance from the field, including going 4-4 from deep and 4-6 from the free throw line. Koenig also tallied three assists, one steal, and one rebound as well. Sophomore Cassidy Boensch continued her hot streak as she poured in 14 points, on 6-7 shooting, while pulling down five rebounds and tallying two blocks.

The Lakers got the contest started on an impressive 15-0 run over the first half of the first quarter thanks to eight points from Keonig alone. The junior got the scoring started with an and-1 layup before hitting a jumper and a 3-pionter in the following three minutes. LSSU finally got on the board at the 4:40 mark and the teams proceeded to trade buckets back and forth for a few minutes before GVSU eventually built up a 24-11 lead after a Maddie Dailey triple with :30 seconds left to go.

In what was almost a mirror image of the first quarter, the Lakers held LSSU scoreless for the first six minutes of the second quarter which allowed them to build up a 34-11 lead. During the run, Koenig poured in another five points while Boensch added three and Korynn Hincka made a free throw. Over the next four minutes, the Lakers allowed LSSU to score just three more points for a total of five throughout the whole quarter. The 16 points allowed by the Laker defense in the first half is the second lowest they have allowed all season by just one point as they held Davenport to 15 back on Dec. 2.

Lake Superior State came out ready to play in the third quarter however, eventually outscoring the Lakers 15-14. LSSU got the scoring started with a 3-pointer before a Boensch layup would make the score 51-19 with 7:18 left. After another Koenig triple fell, the Laker lead was extended to 56-21 but Lake Superior State would go on a 10-point run to cut into the lead. GVSU held the 56-31 margin at the 1:41 mark before a layup from Dailey and a 3-pointer from DeBoer rounded out the scoring in the quarter and upped the lead to 63-31 heading into the fourth.

Lake Superior State opened the scoring with a 3-pointer in the first :15 seconds but a Parmley layup quickly answered the bucket and gave GVSU the 31-point lead, which would only go up throughout the fourth and eventually end at an even 40 after a couple of Anja Smith free throws fell in the last minute of the contest. GVSU would outscore LSSU 17-9 in the fourth and secure their second victory in a row.
 
The Lakers will take Friday off to rest up before a 6:00 PM matchup against Ferris State on Saturday, Jan. 20 inside GVSU fieldhouse Arena.