Northwood
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Saginaw Valley State
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ALLENDALE, Mich. – The #4 ranked Grand Valley State women's basketball team will return home Thursday (Jan. 16) to take on Northwood at 6:00 PM (Polar Vortex Night), followed by a trip to Saginaw Valley to play the Cardinals on Saturday (Jan. 18) at 1:00 PM. Thursday's game against Northwood will air on ESPN3 with Tom Cleary on the call. The Lakers are currently 14-1 overall and 6-1 in GLIAC play.
 
Last Thursday, the much-anticipated matchup between two top-5 teams, GVSU and Ashland, did not disappoint as the two teams duked it out from start to finish. The Lakers led 66-65 with three minutes remaining before Ashland would pull away in the final two minutes of the contest to give the Lakers their first loss of the season, 77-68. GVSU gave the Eagles all they could handle despite not having their second leading scorer, senior forward Maddie Dailey (14.5 ppg). Senior center Cassidy Boensch was still a force in the paint without having her classmate's down-low presence, scoring 28 points and grabbing seven rebounds, while senior guards Jenn DeBoer and Victoria Hedemark scored 16 and 14 points respectively.
 
 The Lakers would bounce back on Saturday and defeat Wayne State 67-41 in spite of shooting a season low 40.7% from the field and 11.8% from behind the arc. The Lakers defense clamped down and held Wayne State to just 29.6% shooting, while forcing the Warriors to turn the ball over 23 times. Boensch led the Lakers once again with 25 points, her third straight game scoring 25+ points, and sixth time this season.
 
GVSU continues to lead the nation in block shots per game (7.1) while Boensch ranks fourth individually with 3.6 blocks per game. The Lakers also rank in the top-five in scoring margin (26.7) and field goal percentage (49.3).
 
The Lakers only dropped one spot in the latest WBCA Top-25 poll as Ashland moved up to #3 while GVSU fell to #4 for the first time this season. In the conference standings, GVSU and Parkside both sit at 6-1 in a tie for second place with Ashland leading the pack at 7-0.
 
Northwood will enter Thursday night's matchup with a 3-12 record overall and 1-6 mark in GLIAC play after a 52-42 win over Lake Superior State last Saturday. The Timberwolves played the first five games without Preseason All-GLIAC selection, Ellie Taylor, who currently leads the team in scoring with 13.9 points per game while shooting 40.7% from three-point range. Taylor is the lone Timberwolf scoring in double-figures.
 
Saginaw Valley will travel to Davenport on Thursday before hosting GVSU on Saturday afternoon. The Cardinals have lost three out their last four and sit in the middle of the pack in the GLIAC standings, supporting a 7-8 overall and 3-4 record in league play. SVSU has a trio of players scoring in double-figures with freshman Kaitlyn Zarycki leading the way with 12.4 points per game.