Despite a trio of Lakers scoring in double digits, the Grand Valley State women’s basketball lost for the first time this season, falling to the Lewis Flyers 74-66. With the loss, the Lakers post a 2-1 record heading into Thanksgiving break. 

While GVSU was winning 19-17 at the end of the first quarter and was able to match Lewis’ 18 fourth quarter points, the lead built up by LU in the second and third quarters ended up being too much for the Lakers.

Maddie Dailey led all Lakers in scoring with 17 points, while Jenn DeBoer poured in 14 and Cassidy Boensch contributed 12. Scoring wasn’t the problem for the Lakers, though, as the Flyers were able to best them in rebounds (35-26) and points in the paint (42-24).

The Lakers couldn’t contain the post players of Lewis, as Jessica Kelliher and Rachel Hinders combined to expose GVSU, collectively putting up 48 points and 16 rebounds. 

Kelliher has a history of playing well against GVSU, as in a match-up at the GVSU Fieldhouse last season, Kelliher posted 25 points and two steals in a loss to the Lakers.

“We couldn’t stop their post player,” Williams said. “We haven’t been able to for three years, so it’s been hard for us to change that.”

While Williams was obviously disappointed with his team’s loss, he appreciated how the girls started out hot, but feels they need to carry that winning mentality throughout the game.

“I thought we came out well, since we jumped out to an eight point lead early,” Williams said. “After that, things didn’t go our way and we had a bit of a ‘woe is me’ attitude until the fourth quarter. That changed our mindset, they made a run on us, and we backed down.”

There’s a lot that the Lakers need to improve upon if they want to find sustained success this season, and when asked to go into detail, Williams focused on his team improving on defense, guarding strong post players and staying focused throughout the contest.

“Defensively, we’ve got to do a better job staying toward the ball and we need to do a better job guarding the post as a team, not just our primary post defenders,” Williams said. “We’ve got to make better decisions, and we’ve got to do a better job seeing the plays that are there. We’ve got to stay locked in in those tough stretches. We were separated mentally, since we wandered a bit mentally. We’ve got to be more locked in.”

After this loss, the Lakers will look to get back to their winning ways this weekend, as they welcome the Concordia-Ann Arbor Cardinals to the GVSU Fieldhouse on Saturday, Nov. 24. Tip-off for the game is set for 3 p.m.