Women’s basketball smashes Rochester 84-47
GVL / Cody Eding GVSU sophomore guard Brittany Taylor puts up a shot over Rochester College’s Sam Tomaschko in the first half of Tuesday’s game.
Nov 24, 2010
Up-tempo play will be the calling card of the Grand Valley State University women’s basketball team during the 2010-11 season.
Rochester College found out the hard way.
The hustle of the Lakers led to an 11-0 run to open Tuesday night’s game and, eventually, to an 84-47 victory over the visiting Warriors.
“I think that will be our style I think throughout the entire season,” said head coach Janel Burgess. “It doesn’t matter who we’re necessarily going to play.”
No. 16 GVSU (3-0) outplayed Rochester, who was playing its fifth game in the past week, in every facet of the game. Inspired play and hustle helped the Lakers take an 18 point lead into halftime, and GVSU led by 40 points at one point during the second half.
“I feel like it was a total team effort out there,” said sophomore guard Briauna Taylor. “I think we played a real complete game.”
Sophomore center Alex Stelfox led all scorers with 19 points in 26 minutes of action, and Taylor chipped in 18 points of her own. Helped by freshman guard Dani Crandall’s 16 points, the GVSU bench contributed 39 points. Ten different players for the Lakers saw action in the game.
“We’ll end up being very deep throughout the entire season,” Burgess said. “I think we’ve got 10 to 11 players that can play on a night-to-night basis and contribute.”
Burgess said the team’s ability to figure out Rochester’s zone defense helped GVSU’s offense in the second half. The Lakers shot 60.7 percent from the field and scored 46 points during the final 20 minutes after shooting 47.1 percent and scoring 38 points in the opening half. GVSU also scored 36 points in the paint and dished out 20 assists.
“In the beginning we had a little trouble with (the zone), just getting used to it,” Taylor said. “But then, after we talked about it and we implemented different plays, we worked it in better. We got it in the post, and, once we got it inside, we were able to kick it back out. And it worked from there.”
The Lakers next face the University of Wisconsin-Parkside Saturday in the Fieldhouse Arena. GVSU opens GLIAC play on Dec. 2 when they face Ohio Dominican University at home.
“This is the first time we’ve really seen a zone defense,” Burgess said. “We’re going to see another Saturday, which will be a good test for us with Wisconsin-Parkside.”
