ALLENDALE, MICH. – The Grand Valley women's basketball travels up across the bridge for two key GLIAC matchups this weekend. The trip starts off tomorrow against Northern Michigan at 7:30 pm, then concludes Saturday afternoon at 1pm against Michigan Tech.
 
Another 2-0 weekend for the Lakers last week propelled them to 16-1 overall and 7-0 in conference play, still maintaining the top spot in the conference. In last weekend's wins over Wayne State and SVSU, the Lakers put together two of their best defensive performances of the season and the two best in GLIAC play, only allowing Wayne State to score 44, and the Cardinals could only register 32. Nicole Kamin had two strong games, scoring a career-high 15 points against Wayne then 10 points versus Saginaw. Emily Spitzley also scored in double-figures in both wins, while Rylie Bisballe, Lexi Plitzuweit, Ellie Droste, and Paige Vanstee all recorded double-digit point efforts in one game. The 7-0 start to conference play is the best start to the conference schedule since the 2018-19 team started 9-0 in league play.
 
In the matchup on Thursday with Northern Michigan, the Lakers take on a team that is 10-6 overall and 5-2 in conference play. The Wildcats have been struggling a bit lately, losing two of their last four, falling to Northwood and most recently Michigan Tech, and only beating Wayne State and SVSU by four each. Northern Michigan is the second-best defense in the GLIAC, allowing just 57.8, and teams are only shooting 38.6% from the field and 31.3% from distance. However, they have the second worst offense in the league, scoring 62.1 points a game and they are only shooting 25.1% from three. Makaylee Kuhn is the lone Wildcat in double-figures, scoring 15.9 points a game, while also being the team's leading rebounder at 7.6 boards.
 
Saturday's game will feature the two best teams in the GLIAC, as Michigan Tech is 14-3 overall and 6-1 in conference play, with the lone loss coming in the conference opener at Parkside. Since then, they are 8-1, only losing to undefeated Ashland in that span. They are coming off a 69-56 win over Northern Michigan which pushed them into second place in the conference. The Huskies have three players who score in double-figures, led by senior guard Ellie Mackay's 14 points per game. Isabella Lenz (13.4) and Alex Rondorf (10.4) also are in double-figures, and Rondorf is the team's leading rebounder at 8.1 a game. MTU is one of the best teams in the country at taking care of the ball, as they only average 12.5 turnovers per game, good for ninth in the nation. This game will be the 97^th all-time meeting between these two teams, with Tech leading the series 53-43, but GVSU has won the previous three games.
 
Both games will be available to follow through live stream on FloSports, live audio on the Ticket with Bryan Fongers on the call, or live stats. For full coverage of the game, including live in-game updates, follow @gvsuwbb on Twitter and visit gvsulakers.com.