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ASHLAND, Ohio – The #3 ranked Grand Valley State women's basketball team will travel to Ashland to take on the #4 ranked Eagles in a matchup of two highly ranked, 13-0 teams, on Thursday night (Jan. 9) at Kates Gymnasium with the tip set for 5:30 P.M. The winner of the big showdown will sit alone a-top the GLIAC standings and earn a huge resume builder for the regional/national rankings.
Both teams are coming off a pair of victories this past weekend in GLIAC play. GVSU overcame their first second half deficit of the season to defeat Ferris State 72-68 on Thursday before taking down Lake Superior State at home, 57-39, on Saturday afternoon. Meanwhile, Ashland traveled to the U.P. and cruised to an 80-39 win over Northern Michigan on Thursday and defeated Michigan Tech 85-68 on Saturday.
Senior center
Cassidy Boensch earned her third GLIAC South Division Player of the Week honor of the season (11th of career) after her performances against Ferris State and Lake Superior State last week. The Au. Gres, Mich. native scored 16 points, grabbed eight rebounds, and blocked six shots against Ferris and followed that up with 29 points, 13 rebounds, and five blocks on Saturday vs. LSSU. Boensch leads the Lakers in scoring (20.8 ppg) and rebounding (9.8 rpg) while senior forward
Maddie Dailey (14.7 ppg), and senior guard
Jenn DeBoer (11.9 ppg) are also averaging in double-figures.
Ashland is led by a trio of seniors, Jodi Johnson, Sara Loomis, and Renee Stimpert, who have posted an 115-4 record in their career including a perfect season in 2016-17 that culminated in a national championship. Loomis averages a team-high 17.2 points per game and 9.6 rebounds per game, while Jodi Johnson (2017-18 National Player of the Year) averages 16.5 points per game and shoots 49% from behind the arc. Stimpert is second in the nation in assists per game (7.7) and also scores in double figures with 10.6 points per game.
The Eagles offense is currently ranked in the top-5 nationally in several statistical categories including; assists per game 1st (22.1), three-point field goal percentage 1st (44.7%), assist/turnover ratio 2nd (1.48), field goal percentage 2nd (51.0%), points per game 2nd (91.4), and scoring margin 5th (26.3), while the Lakers defense has the statistical rankings to match. GVSU leads the nation in block shots per game (7.6) and rebounding margin (15.2) and also rank 3rd in field goal percentage defense (31.7%) and 7th in points allowed per game (51.2). The Laker offense is putting up some impressive numbers as well as they lead in the nation in scoring margin (29.5) and shoot 50.1% from the field (4th in nation).
GVSU snapped a nine-game losing streak against the Eagles, who owns the all-time series 21-18, last season when the Lakers took down #1 Ashland at home by a score of 94-61. The win streak increased to two games after a 73-71 victory at Ashland on a game-winning layup by
Natalie Koenig with just seconds remaining. The two teams have met five times in the last four seasons during postseason play (GLIAC Tournament/Midwest Regional) and have had 11 meetings overall in that span.
The Lakers will welcome Ashland to the GVSU Fieldhouse Arena on Saturday, February 8 to complete the season series.
