ALLENDALE, MICH. – For the second time this season, the GVSU women's basketball team will take on a ranked opponent in GLIAC play, as 24^th ranked Michigan Tech comes to town tomorrow night for a clash of the top two teams in the GLIAC. Then on Saturday, with the Lakers celebrating Sawyer's Day, GVSU takes on Northern Michigan.
 
GVSU is coming off a one game weekend last week, as they defeated Davenport 68-46. The Lakers held the Panthers to just eight first half points to move to 20-2 overall and 11-1 in conference play. The Lakers got a balanced scoring effort, with five players scoring eight or more points, led by Ellie Droste's 13, while Hannah Kulas and Paige Vanstee each had 10. GVSU sits in first place in the league standings, just a half game up on Michigan Tech. After that win, the Lakers maintained the #6 ranking in the WBCA poll, marking the 19^th straight week in the top-10.
 
In the first matchup between the Lakers and Huskies, it was a back-and-forth affair, before Tech hit a buzzer beater to win 57-56, marking the only blemish during the conference slate for GVSU. Two days prior to that meeting, the Lakers defeated Northern Michigan in a defensive battle, only allowing 38 points in the 45-38 win.
 
Rolling into Allendale on a three-game winning streak and coming in ranked in the WBCA poll for the first time all season, debuting at 24 this week. This marks the second ranked matchup for GVSU this season, with the first being the conference opener at Ferris State. Since losing at Parkside to open conference play, the Huskies have won 13 of 15, with the only losses coming to undefeated Ashland and more recently at Ferris State on January 26. MTU is 19-4 and 11-2 in conference play, just a half game back of the Lakers in the conference standings, meaning for the second time this season, the matchup with these two teams will have outright control of the conference lead. The Huskies score 71.5 points a game, ranking fourth in the conference, and are led by Isabella Renz with 14.7 and Ellie Mackay with 13.3. Senior guard Alex Rondorf is averaging a near double-double at 10.1 points and 8.0 rebounds a contest. This is the 98th matchup between these two programs, with Michigan Tech leading the series 54-43.
 
On Saturday as the Lakers celebrate Sawyer's Day, Northern Michigan visits Allendale for the second matchup between these two teams this season. The Wildcats have been scuffling lately, losing five of their last seven games, including their last three as they got swept at home last weekend by SVSU and Wayne State. Despite those losses, the Wildcats still maintain the second-best scoring defense in the conference, behind GVSU, allowing only 56.2 points, and have eight games of holding their opponents to 50 points or less. On the flip side however, they have the worst scoring offense in the league, scoring just 59.1 points a game. Makaylee Kuhn has been the only consistent offense for NMU, averaging 15 a game, while also being a force on the glass, pulling down 7.3 rebounds per contest. Saturday will mark the 102^nd meeting of the Wildcats and Lakers, with GVSU holding a 60-41 advantage.
 
For the fifth edition of Sawyer's Day on Saturday the Lakers will be wearing special flannel themed jersey and look to remain undefeated on the faux-back day, as they are 4-0 already. The first 500 students at Saturday's game will receive a beanie courtesy of Campus View.
 
Thursday's game will be broadcast on WXSP-TV with Tom Cleary calling the game, as well as 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.