vs. Wayne State (Thursday, Feb. 8 - 8:00 PM –DeltaPlex Arena)
Radio: WTKG 1230 AM |
Listen
Watch:
Video |
Live Stats
Tickets
The Grand Valley State women's basketball team will be hosting GLIAC foe Wayne State at the DeltaPlex Arena on Thursday, Feb. 8th in the last edition of the Downtown Series this season. The upcoming contest between the Lakers and Warriors not only has GLIAC Tournament implications but could also have NCAA Tournament ramifications as well. GVSU will enter the contest with an 18-4 overall record and an 11-3 mark in GLIAC play while the Warriors are currently sitting at 15-5 overall and 10-4 in the conference. The Lakers and Warriors currently sit in third and fourth, respectively, in the conference standings while Ashland (22-0, 14-0) and Michigan Tech (18-3, 12-2) lead the way and have already clinched berths in the GLIAC Tournament.
The Lakers went 1-1 last weekend after a couple of tough road contests in the Upper Peninsula. On Thursday (Feb. 1) GVSU fell in a hard fought battle with #17 Michigan Tech, 68-61, before bouncing back on Saturday (Feb. 3) in a defensive battle with Northern Michigan, 52-38.
Taylor Parmley poured in a game-high 22 points on 8-of-12 shooting in the Lakers loss to MTU while
Jenn DeBoer exploded for a career-high 20 points against the Wildcats just two days later. DeBoer was also 5-5 from the free throw line in her 20-point contest, which contributed to the Lakers hitting a season best 15-of-16 (93.8%) freebies compared to Northern Michigan's 6-of-8 performance.
On the season, DeBoer is leading the way with 13.4 points per contest, with Parmley not far behind at 12.2 points per game. Junior
Natalie Koenig – who is just 12 points away from the 1,000 point club – is averaging 10.5, while
Korynn Hincka and
Cassidy Boensch are contributing 9.8 and 9.1 points, respectively. As a team, the Lakers are putting up 70.9 points and are one of the biggest deep threats in the GLIAC. They have hit 168-of-494 three's this season for a 34.0% mark, which ranks second and fifth in the league and currently rank third in made 3-pointers per game (7.6). A majority of the Lakers threes have come from DeBoer and Koenig, who are a combined 83-123 (67.4%). Sophomore forward
Maddie Dailey and Hincka have also been threats from deep this season, as they have hit 28 and 23 triples, respectively.
While GVSU is a solid team offensively, their true identity lies in their defense. The Lakers currently lead the conference in defensive scoring, allowing opponents to score just 55.5 points per game, which also ranks 12th in the entire NCAA DII. The Laker defenders have a knack for forcing low-percentage shots as their opponents are shooting just 38.2% from the floor and an abysmal 26.6% from three. Those numbers ranks second and first in the league, respectively. The Lakers are also one of the top teams in the GLIAC when it comes to forcing turnovers, as they rank third with 18.5 forced turnovers per game.
The Warriors will enter the contest as winners in eight of their last ten games, a run that included a seven game winning streak before the Warriors fell to #1 Ashland last weekend. Most recently, Wayne State took down Tiffin, 66-59, for its 15th win of the season. The Warriors are a versatile team, as they currently rank second in the GLIAC in defense and third in offense. Their 72.0 points scored per game trails just Ashland and Ferris State while their 59.3 points allowed per contest trails only the Lakers.
Much of the Warriors offense comes from their two guards, senior Shannon Wilson and sophomore Nastassja Chambers. Wilson is pouring in 16.3 ppg while Chambers isn't far behind with 14.3 points scored per contest. Wilson is hitting 34.7% of her threes this season but just like Chambers, prefers to drive toward the basket and get most of their work done inside the 3-point line. Fellow guard Ja'Nae Williams is third on the team in scoring with 8.3 ppg and is followed by Payton Birchmeier (6.8) and Jessica Murphy (6.6) as the Warriors go to offensive weapons.
Following the game this Thursday, the Lakers will head back to GVSU Fieldhouse Arena to host Davenport on Saturday, Feb. 10. Tipoff is set for 6:00 PM.
