Leading 68-63 with under three minutes to go, the Grand Valley State women’s basketball team was a few defensive stands away from avenging its first loss loss in the Battle of the Valleys series.

Instead, the Lakers allowed 10 straight points in the closing minutes, as Saginaw Valley State and GLIAC-leading scorer Emily Wendling completed their regular-season sweep of the Lakers by a 75-71 score.

“We can’t get stops,” said GVSU head coach Mike Williams. “We can’t guard anybody when it counts. (It’s) tough to win games when you can’t guard anybody when it counts.”

Though that may have been the case against the Cardinals, the Lakers bounced back for a 71-65 win at Hillsdale on Feb. 20.

The Lakers took the first quarter against SVSU with a 22-12 advantage, but the Cardinals answered and took the second, outscoring the Lakers 21-9 to even it up.

“We had letdowns at certain times, especially in the second quarter, that we shouldn’t have had and that led to making it even closer at the end,” said GVSU forward Bailey Cairnduff. “We just couldn’t finish and get stops.”

Fast forward to the final quarter. Cairnduff hit a quick 3-pointer off an inbounds pass to give the Lakers a 68-63 advantage and much-needed momentum. The basket represented the final meaningful points of the game for the Lakers.

SVSU’s Wendling, who had a quiet 12 points in the first three quarters, took over. The Cardinals made it their mission to get the ball to Wendling, who scored six straight points, all in the post. The Lakers had nothing to counter the quick post moves of the 6-foot-3-inch center.

With 26 seconds remaining and trailing by a point, the Lakers had a chance to potentially seal the game with a clutch basket. After several swing passes around the perimeter, center Piper Tucker got an open look from behind the arc—but the shot hit the iron and the Cardinals rebounded, forcing the Lakers to foul.

After SVSU converted at the free throw line, the Lakers had an opportunity to tie the game with a 3-pointer, trailing 71-68.

SVSU fouled on the Lakers’ first attempt to inbound the ball, so the Lakers attempted to get a shot off the second time around before the Cardinals could force them to shoot free throws. GVSU sharpshooter Lindsay Baker got an open look, but tight defense caused an air-ball.

The Lakers were forced to play the foul game, and SVSU sealed the deal with late free throws.

The Cardinals’ Danielle Carriere scorched the Lakers for 23 points, including seven 3-pointers, after scoring one point in the two teams’ first meeting. Wendling finished with 20 points, besting her conference-leading average of 18.1 points per game.

For the Lakers, Cairnduff led the team with 20 points. Forward Kayla Dawson had 16 points and five steals. GVSU shot 13-of-32 from 3-point range, and scored only 16 points in the paint.

The Lakers squandered a late lead for the second time against the Cardinals. In their first meeting, the Lakers, despite having a lead as large as 12 points, missed 12 shots in the final four minutes en route to a 68-65 loss.

Against Hillsdale, the Lakers took to the road, hoping to improve their 6-6 road record and get a crucial conference win. Coming into the game, GVSU had lost three of its last four games.

A back-and-forth game drew even closer with eight minutes left in the game, as the Chargers’ Makenna Ott hit a 3-pointer to make it 55-54 in Hillsdale’s favor.

With their late-game misfortunes just a few nights ago, the Lakers responded. A Dawson layup right after the Ott 3-pointer sparked a 13-1 run that went until just about two minutes were left in the fourth quarter to give the Lakers the edge.

“One thing with past two losses, is we took a punch and didn’t really fight back,” Dawson said. “I thought today we just did a good job of fighting back. We had each others’ backs the whole time, and it was just a great energy out there.”

Dawson led the Lakers with 21 points. Cairnduff had 19 points and Taylor Parmley added 12. Hillsdale’s Ott also had 21 points, but 21 team turnovers held the Chargers back.

Williams was happy with how his team responded after the lackluster fourth quarter against the Cardinals.

“I think our players took a lot of ownership,” Williams said. “I think they did a good job of understanding this is on their shoulders, and that’s the way they played.”

The Lakers close out the regular season at home versus Ferris State on Feb. 25.