UNIVERSITY CENTER, Mich. – The Grand Valley State women's basketball team completed the sweep over Saginaw Valley State on Saturday afternoon in a 50-49 victory at O'Neill Arena. The Lakers improve to 2-0 overall for the conference only season.
 
Freshman Rylie Bisballe knocked down the game-winning free throw with seven seconds remaining and the defense forced a turnover to end the contest. The Lakers held a 49-45 lead with 6:08 remaining before SVSU tied it up at 49-49 at the 1:14 mark. GVSU forced the Cardinals into a tough shot attempt with under a minute to go and Bisballe was able to draw a foul near the basket on the following possession.
 
Junior Emily Spitzley put together another impressive performance, recording her first career double-double with 18 points and 12 rebounds and classmate Hannah Kulas nearly reached a double-double with nine points and nine rebounds.
 
The GVSU defense was stout once again, forcing SVSU to shoot 31.6% (18-57) from the field and just 22.7% (5-22) from beyond the arc, while also recording nine steals and five blocked shots.
 
The Lakers struggled early on as SVSU jumped out to a 17-6 lead in the first four minutes, but a 14-4 run cut the GVSU deficit to just one at the end of the first quarter. After a back and forth second quarter, SVSU took a 31-30 advantage into the half. In the second half, the Lakers appeared to have control of the contest with a 49-42 lead with 8:09 left in the game, however the Cardinals scored seven straight points to tie it at 49-49. After the Bisballe free throw to re-take the lead, Kulas grabbed a loose ball to secure the win.
 
GVSU will host Ashland on Saturday (Jan. 16) at 1:00 PM in the home opener.