Behind a season-high 49 first half points Wednesday night, the Grand Valley State University women’s basketball team handily defeated the Blue Knights of visiting Urbana University.

Four Lakers reached double digits with sophomores Brittany Taylor, Briauna Taylor, Alex Stelfox and freshman Tori Klewicki-McNutt combing for 61 of GVSU’s 77 points. The foursome collectively shot 60.5 percent from the field by hitting 23 of 38 shots.

GVSU shot an even 50 percent for the game while shooting better than 64 percent in the first half. A solid 8-board advantage continued a successful trend this season for the Lakers, who outrebounded the Blue Knights 37-29. Stelfox and senior forward Elizabeth Van Tiflin led the team with seven apiece, while Jasmine Padin added six, one shy of tying her career high, and Briauna Taylor grabbed five more.

“In the second half especially our kids hammered the weak side board on the offensive end and got some extra opportunities for us,” Laker head coach Janel Burgess said. “I think we did a decent job of boxing out.”

The Lakers outscored the Blue Knights 34-18 in the paint, an area Stelfox dominated while putting up 20 points to go along with her seven boards.

“I didn’t play to my full potential last game (against Michigan Technological University) and knew that I needed to pick it up in this game,” Stelfox said. “We worked on posting up hard and getting post touches so it came easy tonight from preparing this week in practice.”

Eight Lakers recorded points in possibly the most well rounded victory of the season. Padin lead the way with five of GVSU’s 14 assists, while the Lakers were rewarded for hustle plays, adding 25 points off of turnovers.

GVSU exploited Urbana’s full-court press in the first half, leading to several two-on-ones and easy post buckets or trips to the charity stripe, where they converted on 16 of 21 free throws.

The depth and youth of the team have continued to impress Burgess throughout the season, as she’s seen her squad continue to mature and develop while making unselfish plays standard.

“We had ten kids play solid minutes,” Burgess said. “We have a lot of depth and I’m more excited about the concept of playing together, the ball movement, the selflessness, picking each other up after a hustle play and tonight I saw that from all ten of them. They were all focused on doing those things and that’s what Grand Valley basketball is all about.”

Burgess has stressed cohesion within the offense all season, a principle that was clearly visible from a team that looked much different than the one that lost by 20 at home against Michigan Tech just five days ago. The selfless mentality has resonated within the team all season, said Klewicki-McNutt.

“We were moving the ball around a lot and getting it inside which allowed all of the guards and the post to find open shots,” she said. “All of us worked together on offense and moved the ball around to find the shots we wanted.”

The Lakers will hope to repeat Wednesday night’s performance on Saturday night in the 131 Showdown, where GVSU will take on rivals Ferris State University at Van Andal Arena.

“Being consistent, duplicating what we did particularly on defense will be our focus,” Stelfox said. “Our offense did great getting a lot of good touches inside and finding spacing, something we hope to do again on Satuday.”

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