ALLENDALE, Mich – The #6 ranked Grand Valley State women's basketball team bounced back on Thursday night from a loss vs. #2 Ashland with a 72-34 win over Saginaw Valley State at the GVSU Fieldhouse Arena. The Lakers, who improved to 22-2 overall and 14-2 in GLIAC play, clinched a home quarterfinal game in the GLIAC Tournament on Tuesday, March 3 after the win and a Northern Michigan loss.
 
Senior center Cassidy Boensch and senior guard Jenn DeBoer both stuffed the stat sheet to lead the Lakers. Boensch finished with 22 points (8-12 FG), nine rebounds, four steals, and three blocks, while DeBoer had 13 points, five rebounds, five steals, and four assists. Sophomore guard Brooke McKinley tied a season-high with three triples and finished the evening with nine points. The Lakers were coming off their worst shooting performance of the season (32.3%) last time out against Ashland, but followed that up tonight with a solid 50.9% mark from the floor, including 7-18 (38.9%) from behind the arc. GVSU's bench contributed 22 points compared to just eight from SVSU's bench and also held the edge in rebounds (41-30), steals (14-10), blocks (9-2), and points in the paint (42-16).   
 
SVSU opened the game with a layup to go up 2-0 before GVSU would quickly gain the lead at 4-2 and not look back. At the halfway mark of the first quarter with the Lakers leading 9-7, Boensch finished a layup to ignite a 14-0 run which was capped off on back-to-back three pointers by Taryn Taugher and Victoria Hedemark. GVSU led 23-9 at the end of the first quarter and began the second quarter on a 12-2 run to increase their lead to 35-11 with 5:22 left in the first half. Saginaw Valley scored on consecutive possessions before the GVSU defense held the Cardinals without a point for the final 4:31 of the half and took a 42-15 lead into the halftime break.
 
The Lakers continued to build their lead in the second half, scoring the final 10 points of the frame and led 63-26 entering the fourth quarter. Early in the fourth quarter, DeBoer buried a mid-range jump shot to increase the lead to a game-high 39 points at 65-26.
 
GVSU will travel to Northwood on Saturday afternoon for a 4:00 tip against the Timberwolves.