ALLENDALE, MICH. – Coming into the game with 199 wins for his Grand Valley career, head coach Mike Williams had a chance at becoming just the second coach in Laker history to amass 200 wins. Standing in his was a Northern Michigan team that gave GVSU all they could handle in the first matchup, as the two best defensive teams in the conference squared off on Sawyers Day. After a defensive battle to start, GVSU used a big second quarter scoring run to take control of the game and held on through a late Wildcat push to give Williams victory number 200 with a 64-52 win.
 
GVSU got out to a quick 4-0 lead to open the game, but the Wildcats battled back to take an 11-6 lead with just over three minutes remaining in the quarter. From there the Sawyers scored eight straight points to end the quarter, capped off by back-to-back three-pointers from Ellie Droste and Nicole Kamin to lead 14-11 going into the second quarter.
 
The hot shooting continued into the second period, as Hadley Miller buried a three of her own to start the scoring in the second. The two teams traded baskets, as GVSU only led 21-17 at the media timeout. Grand Valley got hot once again after that, ending the half on a 17-4 scoring run, started by another Miller triple, highlighted by triples from Emily Spitzley and Abrie Cabana, and capped off by another buzzer beating bucket from Droste, as the Sawyers extended their lead to 38-21 at the break.
 
The lead got extended up over 20 after a Rylie Bisballe layup early in the second half. After getting a layup from Paige Vanstee and a free throw from Hannah Kulas the lead was up to its highest at 25 points. NMU started to chip into the lead after that, cutting it to 19 going into the fourth quarter, making the score 54-35.
 
The Wildcats started the fourth quarter on a 15-5 run to bring the score to 59-50 with less than a minute to go. Northern forced a turnover and got fouled, hitting both free throws to bring the game within seven points, but GVSU buckled down from there, taking care of the ball and hitting five free throws in the final 32 seconds to seal the game and give Mike Williams his 200^th victory at the helm in Allendale, as he joins Pat Baker as the only two coaches to reach that milestone in Allendale.
 
Paige Vanstee once again led the team in scoring, putting up 11 points on 5-10 shooting. Hadley Miller was the only other player in double-figures, scoring 10 points on 4-5 shooting, including two huge threes. Miller was a menace defensively as well, helping hold the Wildcats leading scorer Makaylee Kuhn, who averages over 15 points, to only nine points on 4-14 shooting. Rylie Bisballe added nine points and 10 rebounds off the bench as well.
 
UP NEXT
The final roadtrip of the season is up next, as GVSU travels to Saginaw Valley on Thursday for a 6pm tip, followed by a 1:00 game at Wayne State on Saturday.