The No. 15 Grand Valley State women's basketball team earned an impressive 82-53 road victory over the Davenport Panthers on Saturday afternoon (Jan. 26) to improve to 17-2 overall and 10-2 in conference action. The Panthers fall to 5-13 overall and 3-8 in league action. 
 
GVSU shot an efficient 55.2% from the field, knocking down 32-of-58 from the field including 11 three-pointers (11-of-27, 40.7%). While the Lakers won the rebounding game, 39-24, they were uncharacteristically outscored 36-34 in the paint but led in nearly all other team categories. 
 
Junior guard Jenn DeBoer led the Laker offense as she poured in a game-high 23 points to go with eight assists, four rebounds, and a steal. Junior center Cassidy Boensch notched 10 points in the contest and tied for the team-lead in rebounds with six. Both Victoria Hedemark and Anja Smith added nine points while the trio of Natalie Koenig, Maddie Dailey, and Taya Andrews supplied seven points apiece. 
 
Davenport's Amanda Merz supplied the first points of the game with a layup a minute into play but the Lakers quickly answered with a layup from DeBoer and a Koenig jumper to take the 4-2 lead early. After a brief tie, the Lakers used a quick 8-0 run, four of which came from DeBoer, to take a comfortable 12-4 lead with just over five minutes to go. DU managed to cut the lead to four, 14-10 after a Toni Grace layup at the 2:00 minute mark but the Lakers hit a couple of three's down the stretch to take the 22-12 lead into the second quarter. 
 
A Davenport and-1 layup got things started in the second but a Brooke McKinley three a few minutes later capped off another 8-0 run by the Lakers and gave them their largest lead of the game at 15, 30-15. Despite the comfortable lead, GVSU kept their foot on the gas and took a 17-point lead into the break, 38-21. 
 
Out of the break, Davenport once again got the scoring started to cut the lead to 14 a minute into play but Dailey answered with a three to push the Lakers to 41 points with nearly nine minutes left. A Jenna Falkenberg layup for DU was sandwiched by a pair of Laker three's from Hedemark and Koenig as the margin remained large, 49-26. With 2:00 minutes still to go before the final quarter, GVSU gained their largest lead of the game, 60-30, after Boensch drilled a pair of free throws. The teams traded buckets to end the stanza as the lead would remain 30, 62-32, in favor of the Lakers. 
 
No. 15 GVSU was lights out from the field to start the final quarter, as their lead quickly exploded to 41 points, 73-32, just four minutes into play after a Smith layup. A Jenai LaPorte layup with 3:59 to go would give the Lakers their largest lead all afternoon at 47 points, 80-33, before they would coast to a final 82-53 victory over the final minutes of play. 
 
The Lakers will be back in action next weekend when they travel to Wayne State on Thursday and Ashland on Saturday to close out a five-game road stretch.