The third time wasn’t the charm for the Grand Valley State women’s basketball team.

After losing to Michigan Tech twice in the regular season, GVSU pushed the No. 9 Huskies to the brink Saturday in the GLIAC Tournament Semifinals in Houghton, Mich. The Lakers led by two with less than four minutes remaining, but were outscored 18-5 in the final 3:12. 

The 77-66 loss proved to be GVSU’s final game of the season, as the Lakers finished just short of qualifying for the NCAA Tournament after falling from their No. 8 spot in the regional rankings.

“You can’t fault the fight and the effort of our team,” said GVSU coach Janel Burgess. “We battled all day long and did a great job coming back from behind in the game a couple of times. We just didn’t execute late.”

The Lakers, who haven’t won in Houghton since 2007, were neck-and-neck with the 26-2 Huskies early on. After trading baskets and leads in the opening stanza, the teams were tied at 33 apiece.

Tech looked like it might take control of the after going up by 10 with 15:13 left to play, but GVSU battled back. The Lakers went on a 13-0 run, and it was enough to give them a slim 52-49 lead.

The Huskies had an answer, however, as they tied the score at 52 and eventually made it a 59-59 game with just over four minutes left. Senior forward Jillian Ritchie’s three-point play gave Tech a 62-61 advantage, and the Huskies imposed their will from there.

Tech took control in the closing stages by opening up a 15-5 run and shooting 12-of-12 from the free-throw line. The Huskies had a tremendous game from the stripe, shooting 27-of-29 (93.1 percent).

Ritchie was deadly from downtown all game long, shooting 5-of-7 from the 3-point line and scoring 27 points. Junior forward Danielle Blake had a huge game as well with 25 points and 14 rebounds.

Their performances were enough to counteract an offensive outburst from GVSU junior guard Brionna Barnett, who scored a career-high 28 points on 11-of-23 shooting. Barnett, who was named to the All-GLIAC First Team on Friday, added four assists and three rebounds, as well.

“We did a great job today, you can’t fault the effort of our team,” she said. “There were just a couple of possessions that we didn’t come up with at the end of the day.”

GVSU’s Piper Tucker tallied 13 points and four rebounds on 5-of-5 shooting, including 3-of-3 from 3-point land. Senior Kat LaPrairie chipped in with 10 points on the day, while sophomore guard Janae Langs collected a team-high and career-high eight boards.