ALLENDALE, MICH. – For the third consecutive season, the GVSU women's basketball team took home the GLIAC Tournament title. The Lakers defeated Ferris State 79-48 Sunday afternoon to sweep the regular season and tournament titles.
The Bulldogs got out to a 5-4 lead just over three minutes into the game.
Abrie Cabana quickly put the Lakers in front with a triple, and GVSU would never give the lead up the rest of the game. After Ferris got it to 7-6, the Lakers went on a 9-4 run to close out the first quarter, leading 16-10 after one.
The scoring run spilled over into the second quarter, as GVSU went on an 8-0, highlighted by a
Paige Vanstee and-1 layup and free throw, pushing the lead to 24-10. The Bulldogs got back within single digits but were quickly answered by six straight Laker points to extend the lead up to 15 points. The Lakers were doubling up Ferris State at the half following a jumper from
MacKenzie Bisballe, that put GVSU up 34-17.
A three-pointer from
Nicole Kamin early in the second half brough the lead up to 20. The lead grew to as much as 25 after Cabana connected on a layup through contact, then added the free throw to make it 44-19. A late Bulldog bucket cut it to 23 after the third quarter, with the Lakers leading 51-28.
The Lakers got another and-1 bucket and free throw, this one from
Lexi Plitzuweit, then Cabana and
Avery Zeinstra both hit triples to put the Lakers up 67-37 with four minutes to play. They got three more threes to finish off their scoring, as
Hadley Miller,
Sydney Cherney, and
Kathryn Schmidt all connected. The three points from Schmidt gave her 1,700 career collegiate points.
All-Tournament team member
Rylie Bisballe recorded her fourth double-double of the season, posting 15 points and 12 boards, to go along with five steals.
Abrie Cabana tallied 14 points and four assists, with
MacKenzie Bisballe notching 10 points.
Nicole Kamin totaled eight points and six rebounds to take home Tournament MVP. GVSU had 20 assists and 12 steals, forcing 20 turnovers. They shot 46.2% from the floor and held Ferris to 33.9% shooting.
Up Next
The Lakers await their fate in the NCAA Selection show tonight to find out where next week's Midwest Regional will be played.
