ALLENDALE, Mich. – The #4 ranked Grand Valley State women's basketball team took down Northwood 74-35 in GLIAC play on Thursday night inside the GVSU Fieldhouse Arena. The Lakers improve to 15-1 overall and 7-1 in league play.
 
The Lakers were led by senior guard Taryn Taugher who poured in a season-high 19 points, while senior guard Victoria Hedemark also had a season-high 16 points, grabbed four rebounds, and recorded four steals. Senior center Cassidy Boensch was the only other Laker in double-figures with 11 points and senior guard Jenn DeBoer totaled eight rebounds and seven assists. As a team, the GVSU defense continued to force their opponent into making tough shots. After holding Wayne State last Saturday to just 29% shooting from the field, the Lakers held Northwood to a 25.5% mark from the floor and 16.7% from behind the arc, in addition to forcing 23 Timberwolf turnovers.  
 
GVSU jumped out to a 12-2 lead halfway through the first quarter and did not score a field goal for the rest of the frame, but went 6-6 from the free-throw line to lead 18-6 after 10 minutes of play. The Lakers quickly grew their lead to 29-9 with 6:24 left in the half before the Timberwolves would knock down a pair of three-pointers to cut the deficit to just 31-17 at the break.
 
The Lakers defense was at their best in the third quarter, forcing Northwood to shoot just 1-10 from the field, while increasing their lead to 52-20 by shooting 7-10 from the field including 2-2 from three-point range. The two teams traded buckets in the fourth quarter before GVSU would grow their lead to a game-high 39 points at 74-35 in the final minutes of the contest.
 
GVSU will travel to Saginaw Valley for a Saturday afternoon (Jan. 18) contest beginning at 1:00 PM.