Grand Valley State University’s women’s basketball team traveled to Davenport on Thursday, Jan. 16 to take on the Panthers. The Lakers put up a season high of 110 points in an impressive 59-point win.
The game against Davenport marked the team’s third consecutive away game. However, the Lakers didn’t seem to be bothered by going on the road.
“Nothing changes when it comes to preparation for road games,” said redshirt junior Nicole Kamin. “It does help that we are able to come back and practice in our own gym before we head out for the next game.”
The Lakers came out of the gate strong, and made their first five baskets in a row. With two of the baskets being 3-pointers, the Lakers quickly found themselves on a 12-3 run.
Davenport eventually broke GVSU’s run with a layup, but this only triggered another scoring run by the Lakers. After a made layup by the Panthers, GVSU went on an eight-to-zero run. This provided GVSU a 21-5 lead only halfway through the opening quarter.
The final five minutes of the first quarter were a bit closer in scoring. Regardless, considering their early lead, the Lakers found themselves up 30-12 going into the second quarter.
The second quarter started with another run by GVSU. The Lakers scored six straight points, and extended their lead to 24. This quarter was when the Lakers really showed their dominance. For the entire second quarter, Davenport was only able to score 11 points. GVSU, on the other hand, was able to score another 30 points. The Lakers went into the break with a 60-23 lead over the Panthers. Going into the third quarter, there was little chance for Davenport to make up the deficit.
The third quarter, while still largely dominated by GVSU, was Davenport’s best quarter of the game. The team was able to put together two small scoring runs. This was the closest point differential, due to the Panthers being able to briefly slow down the Lakers.
Unfortunately for Davenport, the Lakers bounced right back in the final quarter. They outscored the Panthers 28-13 in the closing frame, and won in dominant fashion.
The final box score was quite telling of how lopsided the game was. GVSU had six different players in double figures. Alongside that, the Lakers were able to capitalize on turnovers by scoring 49 points off of Davenport’s errors. During the blowout, the Lakers were also able to obtain valuable minutes from their bench, scoring 64 of the game’s 110 points.
Following the game, GVSU improved to 17-1 on the season and 7-0 in conference play. This marks back-to-back wins of over 50 points for the Lakers. The team’s 110 points also broke their season high from last week, as the Lakers previously scored 104 points against Lake Superior State.
Redshirt senior Rylie Bisballe has a great deal of confidence in her squad’s ability, whether at home or away.
“We try to take one game at a time, and play our style at any gym we go to,” said Bisballe.
