The No. 3 seeded Grand Valley State women’s basketball team moved on to the Round of 32 in the NCAA Tournament on Friday, March 15 with an 89-64 beat down of the No. 6 Truman State Bulldogs in Springfield, Mo. 

“We try to get into their shooters. We try to get into them,” said GVSU head coach Mike Williams. “Just keep the shots a little bit off balance and we did; they looked rushed, we kept them off the free throw line until the second half… we limited them in transition and get back in transition because they can really score… it was one of the better games we’ve played all year.”

While the Laker defense delivered a strong performance, it was the offense that stood out, as three different players lit up the scoreboard: reigning GLIAC Player of the Year, center Cassidy Boensch, led the game with 27 points, guard Victoria Hedemark added a career high 26 and forward Maddie Dailey added 21. The trio combined to shoot 29-41 from the field and 8-10 from three. 

“They can all score in different ways,” Williams said. “(Hedemark) got to the basket, Maddie hit threes and Cassidy hit the rim on post touches. We’re scoring in three different dimensions… The good thing is the players that aren’t scoring, they’re doing everything else to be successful and that’s what we did today.”

The offensive explosion came on the heels of a conference semifinal loss to Northern Michigan – a five seed in the NCAA Tournament – in which the Lakers scored a season-low 38 points. They hope that their consistency and confidence will roll over and eliminate sour memories from conference play. 

The Lakers will meet No. 2 Lewis on Saturday, March 16 at 6 p.m in Springfield. The Flyers gave the Lakers their first loss of the season in November, winning 74-66 in Romeoville, Ill. GVSU welcomes the opportunity of avenging their loss and advancing to the tournament’s Sweet 16.