The Grand Valley State women's basketball team earned a 52-38 victory over the Wildcats of Northern Michigan on Saturday (Feb. 2) afternoon in Marquette, Mich. The Lakers went down early in what would turn out to be a defensive battle after they were outscored 14-10 in the first quarter before the Wildcats eventually took a 28-22 lead into halftime. Following the break, the Lakers flipped the script and allowed just ten points the entire second half, as the Wildcats managed just four points in the third quarter and six points in the fourth. The Lakers combined for 30 points in the second half for the 14 point victory. With the victory, the Lakers improve to 18-4 overall and 10-4 in the GLIAC while the Wildcats fall to 10-12 and 6-8.
 
The Wildcats posted an overall better shooting performance than the Lakers, shooting 38.9% from the field compared to GVSU's 34.0% but the Laker defense forced the Wildcats into 25 turnovers. Of those 25 turnovers, 12 of them were thanks to steals by the Lakers, which they turned into 20 points while Northern Michigan tallied just two points off of Laker turnovers. Despite Northern Michigan outrebounding GVSU 23-33, the Lakers actually had more success down low on offense as they scored 18 points in the paint compared to the Wildcats' six.
 
Sophomore Jenn DeBoer led the Laker offense with 20 points on 7-of-16 shooting and 5-of-5 from the free throw line. Forwards Taylor Parmley and Maddie Dailey both chipped in eight points, while center Cassidy Boensch tallied seven while pulling down a team-high five rebounds. Three of the Lakers 12 steals came courtesy of Korynn Hincka, who also added four points, three rebounds, and a block as well.
 
The first quarter got off to a relatively slow start, as the teams only scored a combined eight points in the first four minutes. With the game tied 4-4, the Wildcats hit a 3-pointer which they quickly followed up with a layup to jump out to a five point lead, 9-4, with a little more than half of the first quarter completed. The Lakers slowly cut into the lead and found themselves down two, 10-8, with 3:14 on the clock but another triple from the Wildcats gave them another five point lead. The last three points of the quarter were scored via free throws, two of which came from Anja Smith, to bring the Lakers within three but Northern Michigan drew a foul with just under two minutes left and gave themselves a four point lead, 14-10, after the first.
 
A layup by the Wildcats at the 8:53 mark was the first bucket scored in the second quarter and gave them a six point lead but the Lakers would shrink the lead to just two over the next two minutes after a DeBoer layup found the bottom of the net after a Dailey 3-pointer did just seconds earlier. After Northern Michigan took a 23-19 lead, DeBoer drilled a three to cut the lead to just one but the Wildcats would score the last five points of the quarter to take a 28-22 lead into halftime.
 
The second half opened up just as slow as the first, as it took nearly a minute and a half for the first bucket to be scored. Dailey nailed a 3-pointer while was followed by a layup from DeBoer who proceeded to hit another 3-pointer of her own to give the Lakers their first lead of the game, 29-28, with 5:47 to go in the quarter. The teams traded buckets to a 32-31 score in favor of the Wildcats before DeBoer hit a jumper with :59 seconds left, which turned out to be the game winning bucket as the Lakers would not lose the lead in the fourth.
 
GVSU would use a 9-2 run in the first half of the fourth quarter to build up a 10-point lead after Hincka hit a pair of free throws. Boensch would complete an old fashioned 3-point play at the 3:52 mark to give the Lakers an 11-point lead and free throws from Natalie Koenig and DeBoer would be the final points of the quarter and give the Lakers the 14-point victory, 52-38.
 
The Lakers will be back in action this Thursday (Feb. 8) in their final Downtown Thursday contest against Wayne State. Tipoff is set for 8:00 PM at the DeltaPlex Arena.