The No. 11 Grand Valley State basketball team survived a late push from the Bellarmine Knights inside GVSU Fieldhouse Arena on Wednesday afternoon (Dec. 19) as they earned an 87-74 victory over the Great Lakes Valley Conference foe. The victory pushes the Lakers to 10-1 on the season and extends their winning streak to eight games as they remain an undefeated 7-0 on their home court. The Knights fall to 5-3 with the loss. 
 
The Lakers will have a couple of weeks to recover and enjoy the holidays before they are back on the court for a Dec. 29 matchup with Lourdes at 3:00 PM on their home court. 
 
The second quarter was the key for the GVSU victory in this one, as they outscored Bellarmine 22-7 in the second 10 minutes after a 20-20 at the end of the first. A 25-20 third quarter upped the Laker lead slightly but the Knights came roaring back in the final period, outscoring GVSU 27-20, but the large lead early would turn out to be too much to topple. 
 
Redshirt junior Victoria Hedemark stuffed the stat sheet in a career game, as she tallied a new career-high 18 points to go along with four steals, a block, and an assist. Fellow guard Jenn DeBoer also tallied 18 points to go with her seven assists, six rebounds, and a steal while center Cassidy Boensch led all scorers with 26 points. She also recorded her eighth straight double double after pulling down 16 boards while rejecting five Bellarmine shots. 
 
Junior forward Maddie Dailey scored 11 and pulled down seven rebounds as well. 
 
As a team, the Lakers outrebounded the Knights 39-31 and also held the advantage in points in the paint, 44-30. In a game that was full of turnovers, it was the Knights who came out the best as GVSU racked up 24 giveaways compared to their 21. The 17 steals on the Lakers are the most they have allowed all season as well. 
 
It was a back and forth affair in the first period as the teams would be tied for nearly the first five minutes before a three pointer from Hedemark was followed by a layup from Natalie Koenig to give the Lakers the five-point lead with 5:30 on the clock. GVSU's lead would fluctuate between one and three points over the next few minutes before another three from Hedemark would push the lead to four, 16-12, with 3:33 to go. An 8-4 run by the Knights would end the first quarter however and the teams would be tied at 20-all heading into the second. 
 
GVSU arguably won the game in the second quarter as they would hold the Knights to just four points in the first six and a half minutes of play, allowing them to push their lead to 10, 34-24. A DeBoer layup started a seven point run that featured another layup from Boensch and yet another triple from Hedemark before another seven point run a few minutes later would give the Lakers their 10-point lead. In the last three minutes of play, the Lakers would score eight points to go up 15, 42-27, heading into the break. 
 
GVSU continued to build on their lead early in the third, going up by 23 by the halfway point of the period, 54-31. Despite constant pressure from the Knights and their press, the Lakers managed to maintain their lead and give themselves breathing room heading into the final quarter. A three pointer by the Knights with just :11 seconds left seemed like it would be the last bucket of the quarter but a streaking Jenn DeBoer nailed a triple from the top of the key as time expired to push GVSU's lead to an even 20, 67-47. 
 
The Bellarmine full court press was much more effective in the first quarter, as they slowly chipped away at the large margin in the first few minutes of the final stanza before GVSU found themselves up 14 with 3:28 on the clock after a Bellarmine three-pointer. With 1:20 left, the Lakers lead was just 11, 83-72, but some solid free throw shooting down the stretch helped GVSU outlast the pressure down the stretch as they would eventually win, 87-74. 
 
 
Again, the Lakers will be back in action before the new year, as they are scheduled to host Lourdes in a 3:00 PM contest on Saturday, Dec. 29.