The Grand Valley State women's basketball team earned a clutch 73-55 victory over the Northwood Timberwolves on Saturday (Jan. 4) night. The Lakers held just a four point lead heading into the fourth quarter, after a game that was back and forth all night, but stepped up in a big way by outscoring Northwood 21-7 in the final quarter. The victory improved the Lakers to 12-2 on the season and 5-1 in the GLIAC, which puts them in a tie for first place in the GLIAC North Division and a tie for second in the overall standings. Northwood falls to 8-4 overall and 4-2 in conference play.
 
The Lakers, who had struggled from deep the past couple of games, got back to their sharpshooting ways, hitting 11 of 24 three-point attempts (45.8%) while also hitting 23-50 from the floor for a 46.0% mark overall. GVSU, who boasts one of the best defenses in the league, held the Timberwolves to 38.0% from the floor and just 6 of 20 (30.0%) from beyond the arc in the contest. Despite the differences in shooting, the Lakers and Timberwolves turned in similar stat sheets, with GVSU holding the edge in rebounds (32-27), blocks (7-4), and assists (16-14), while Northwood led in steals (9-6) in a game that saw the lead change seven different times.
 
The Laker offense was paced by sophomore Maddie Dailey, as the forward posted a new career-high with 17 points after going 6-11 from the field and an impressive 5-7 from beyond the arc. Dailey also collected three steals (career-high), two blocks (ties career-high), and four rebounds. Fellow sophomore Cassidy Boensch posted her second big game in a row, this time scoring 16 points on 5-10 shooting while also going 6-6 from the free throw line and picking up four rejections.
 
Also scoring in double-digits for the Lakers was junior Natalie Koenig and senior Korynn Hincka. Koenig picked up 14 points on 4-10 from the floor (5-7 FT) while Hincka tallied 13 points on 5-10 shooting, including 3-6 from three-point land.
 
Northwood got the scoring started in the contest as a jumper at the 8:47 mark gave them the 2-0 lead. The Lakers quickly answered and took the lead a minute later after a Koenig jumper found the bottom of the net and a Parmley layup gave them a 4-2 lead at the 7:18 mark. Almost two minutes went by with neither team scoring until the Timberwolves retook the lead at the 5:27 mark on a three-pointer. The lead didn't last long however as Koenig hit a couple of free throws that were quickly followed up with a jumper from Hincka to give GVSU the 8-5 lead. After going back and forth over the next three minutes, the Timberwolves tied the game at 13-13 on a three-point shot but were quickly called for a foul on Hedemark who sank both freebies. The Lakers would score the last points of the first quarter on a Parmley layup to take the 16-13 lead.
 
GVSU opened up the second stanza with a Dailey three-pointer just nine seconds into play but a quick layup and three-pointer from Northwood answered the Lakers and cut the lead to just one, 19-18. The Timberwolves kept rolling, scoring the next five points over the next two minutes to take a 23-19 lead over GVSU. A three ball from Hincka cut the lead to one, 23-22, but the Lakers were called for a foul and the Timberwolves hit both shots to retake the three-point lead at the 5:34 mark. GVSU once again hit their stride with 3:15 left to play in the half hitting four straight three's to take the 34-29 lead with 1:19 left. A Timberwolf jumper with :49 seconds to play was answered by Boensch with :02 seconds left to regain the five point lead, 36-31, heading into the half.
 
It took just over a minute for either team to score in the third quarter but a layup from the Timberwolves at the 8:48 mark cut the Laker lead to 36-33 and they followed it up with another layup with 7:51 on the clock to slim the lead to just one, 36-35. A jumper from Hincka and back-to-back layups from Koenig, one of which was converted into an old fashioned three-point play, quickly put the Lakers back in from by eight points at the 6:03 mark, 43-35. At the 3:44 mark, the Timberwolves managed to chip away at the lead and cut it to five but a couple of free throws and a layup from Boensch gave GVSU the nine-point lead, 51-42, with 2:13 left to play in the third. Just when it looked like GVSU would run away with a double-digit lead, the Timberwolves hit a couple of buckets to end the quarter and found themselves down just four points, 52-48, heading into the fourth.
 
GVSU quickly regained a five point lead as Jenn DeBoer hit a three-pointer just :30 seconds into the final quarter.  After trading buckets back and forth, a Timberwolf three at the 8:15 mark cut the Laker lead to 58-53. After a few minutes of no scoring, Northwood once again cut into GVSU's lead with a couple of free throws to make the score 58-55. Back-to-back layups (Boensch & Dailey) were followed by a Dailey three-pointer to bust the game open and give GVSU the 10-point lead, 65-55, with 4:32 left. After another short draught in scoring, Boensch hit two free throws that sparked a Laker barrage and they would go on to outscore the Timberwolves 21-7 in the fourth quarter for the 73-55 victory.
 
What may be more impressive than outscoring their foes 21-7 in the fourth is the fact that GVSU did not allow the Timberwolves to score another bucket after a three-pointer at the 8:15 mark. Excluding a couple of free throws in the middle of the quarter, GVSU held Northwood scoreless for the final eight minutes and fifteen seconds.
 
The Lakers have one day off before they will host GLIAC rival Saginaw Valley State in a 3:00 PM matchup on Saturday, Jan. 6, inside GVSU Fieldhouse Arena.