The Grand Valley State women's basketball claimed an impressive 77-64 GLIAC road victory at Ferris State Saturday afternoon. The Lakers improved to 23-5 overall and 16-4 in GLIAC action. GVSU will now host Northern Michigan at the GVSU Arena in a GLIAC Tournament quarterfinal game on Wednesday, Feb. 28 at 7 p.m.

GVSU head coach Mike Williams knew that the regular season finale at Ferris State was going to be a tough contest. A rival on the road with pregame senior sendoff. The Lakers started slow, scoring just two points through the first five minutes, trailing 8-2. A three-pointer from junior guard Natalie Koenig and a free throw from senior forward Korynn Hincka pulled the Lakers' to within two (10-8). FSU jumped out to a 21-14 lead and ended the first quarter with a 23-16 advantage. 

It didn't take the Lakers long to regroup as sophomore center Cassidy Boensch scored in the paint just 10 seconds into the second quarter. Boensch added another bucket and sophomore forward Maddie Dailey hit a three-pointer 1:08 into the second stanza to tie the game. Dailey drilled another three to give the Lakers a 26-23 lead with 8:09 left in the half. Sophomore guard Jenn DeBoer hit a pair of free throws to give GVSU a 28-23 lead and Ferris State finally reached the scoring column 3:31 into the second quarter and regained the lead with 3:35 left in the second quarter. GVSU hit dry spell and didn't score for over three minutes until a Koenig free throw tied the game at 29-29. Boensch hit a shot on the paint, Koenig hit another free throw and sophomore Megan Belke hit a layup to give the Lakers a 34-29 lead. The Bulldogs hit a pair of shots late, including one at the buzzer to pull within one (34-33) at the half. 

The third quarter mirrored the first two quarters as GVSU built a 41-35 lead on a Boensch layup and five consecutive points by Belke. The Lakers led 46-40 before the Bulldogs went on a 6-0 run to tie the game with 1:29 left in the quarter. Koenig hit a pair of free throws and a three-pointer to push the Laker lead to 51-46, but FSU hit a three at the buzzer to get back within two heading to the fourth. 

The Lakers led 57-54 with 7:40 left before they broke the game open with an 8-0 scoring run to take a 65-54 lead. Koenig scored on a three-point play, followed by Boensch three-point play and another layup. The GVSU defense buckled down and held FSU without a point for 2:24. Ferris State would close to within seven (65-58), but the Lakers ended the game with a 12-6 run for the 13 point win, outscoring the Bulldogs 26-15 in the fourth quarter. 

Boensch, the GLIAC North Division Player of the Week each of the last two weeks. tallied career-highs in points (32) and rebounds (12) to lead the way for the Lakers, while Koenig added 19 points and a game-high eight assists. Belke tallied a career-high 11 points and Jenn DeBoer chipped in eight points. GVSU hit 53.2 percent of its shots from the floor (25-47) and 73.3 percent from the charity strip (22-30). GVSU outscored FSU 40-28 in the paint.