ALLENDALE, MICH. – The GVSU women's basketball team closed out the penultimate weekend of the regular season taking on SVSU in the Fieldhouse. The Lakers led from start to finish, closing out a 93-56 victory. GVSU is now 27-2 overall and 17-1 in league play.
 
Kathryn Schmidt began the game with three-pointer, as part of a 17-3 Laker run to begin the game. GVSU made their first eight shots of the game, getting threes from Abrie Cabana and Ellie Droste in addition to Schmidt's. After a three from the Cardinals, Paige Vanstee hit a layup through contact, adding the free throw to make it 20-6. The two teams traded baskets to end the quarter, with the Lakers leading 24-12.
 
SVSU scored seven straight points to begin the second period, cutting their deficit to five points. Cabana responded with an old-fashioned three-point play, then Nicole Kamin hit two free throws to put GVSU back up by 10. The lead stayed around 10 points, until a 7-2 Laker run to end the half made it 42-27 after 20 minutes.
 
The Lakers continued that run into the second half, starting on a 9-0 run, pushing their lead up to 51-27. SVSU never got within 20 points the rest of the way. An early quarter layup from Rylie Bisballe gave her over 1,500 points in her career, becoming just the seventh player in program history to reach that mark. GVSU pushed the advantage to as much as 29 points late in the third, before the Cardinals got a bucket to end the quarter, with GVSU up 66-39 going into the fourth.
 
A 13-7 Cardinal run over the first 3:50 of the fourth quarter brought them with 21 points at 73-52. However, the Lakers responded with a 20-4 run to end the game, securing the season sweep in the Battle of the Valleys. The win was also the 134^th victory in the careers of the senior class of Rylie Bisballe, Abrie Cabana, Ellie Droste, Hadley Miller, and Kathryn Schmidt, making them the winningest class in program history.
 
Abrie Cabana continued her hot shooting, draining three more triples, finishing with a team-high 16 points, adding five rebounds. Rylie Bisballe finished with 12 points and surpassed 1,500 career points in the process. Ellie Droste and Paige Vanstee both scored 12 points, and MacKenzie Bisballe had 10 points on 5-5 shooting, with six boards and two blocks. Nicole Kamin had six points and five steals. The Lakers forced 29 turnovers, generating 21 steals, scoring 30 points off those forced turnovers.
 
Up Next
The Crosstown Showdown comes to Allendale on Tuesday to begin the final week of the regular season. The Lakers and Panthers tip at 6:00 in the Fieldhouse.