Head coach Janel Burgess made it a point to challenge her players for the upcoming season opener against Michigan State University.

The Grand Valley State head coach came away from the game satisfied, even after falling 83-36 against the Big Ten conference foe.

“We challenge our kids on really becoming better on the court and giving their best effort,” Burgess said. “We can look back and say that our effort was extremely solid from top to bottom. I think we tried to do the right things. In a game like this against a team this caliber, that’s all you can ask for.”

Michigan State jumped on the Lakers early, scoring the first 13 points of the game. Freshman Jammie Botruff put the Lakers on the board with a 3-pointer, and senior Briauna Taylor added a layup to cap off a 5-0 run. Botruff managed to add another three to make it 17-8, but that would be the last time the game would be in single digits as the Spartans continued to add to their margin and went into halftime with a 43-16 lead.

“I thought early on we took care of the ball really well,” Burgess said. “I really thought we had some nice open looks and some nice extra passes that we just didn’t nail and those things come from confidence, continuity, and with time.”

GVSU was limited to 27 percent shooting from the field and 21 percent from the 3-point line. Michigan State managed to own the boards, holding a 45-23 advantage over the Lakers.

Taylor led the Lakers with nine points, while junior Breanna Kellog and sophomore Kat LePrairie chipped in with seven points.

For the Lakers, they were not only excited to start their season, but also excited for the opportunity to play against a Big Ten opponent.

“We were all just really excited,” Kellog said. “It was our first game of the year and we’ve been playing against each the other the past three, four weeks, so we were just excited to get on the court and see how we panned out against someone else besides ourselves and with that being Michigan State, we all grew up watching them and stuff, so it was just a cool environment to play in and a cool opponent to play against.”

GVSU’s next game will be their home opener against Olivet College on November 12. Until then, GVSU will look at the tape and use the Michigan State game as a valuable learning tool.

“It was just a good reality check and we know what we need to work on in practice,” said junior Kellie Watson. “Offensively we did some good things. We got some of the looks we were trying to get, so that’s always good film wise to get a look at that and see what works for us. More importantly, defensively we know we have a lot of little things to work out.”

Burgess is optimistic that this team will continue to develop throughout the season. She hopes that GVSU will be able to use this valuable experience throughout the rest of the season.

“If think you look at all of them, I think they did extremely well,” Burgess said. “We had young ladies come in and hit some shots. Some other ladies took good opportunities when given them. I think it’s all good things for us for the experience. We’re gonna understand that patience is always going to be a virtue in this sport, offensively and defensivley.”

[email protected]