Feb. 2, 2008

Final Stats

Ashland, Ohio - In the final stop of a four-game road trip, Grand Valley State came up just short in a 69-64 loss to Ashland. Crystal Zick scored 19 points and Erin Cyplik added 17 points and eight rebounds, but the Lakers saw their record drop to 13-8, 8-4. A three-pointer by Cyplik with 54 seconds left brought the Lakers to within a possession, but the Eagles were able to close the game out with a five-point win. Grand Valley's next contest will be at home in Allendale, Mich. against Michigan Tech on Thursday, Feb. 7 at 6 p.m.

Cyplik shot 4-4 from long range and was just two points off of her season-high, which was established in Thursday's game against Hillsdale. Her eight rebounds were also a team-high. Kim Wyngaard was the final Laker to score double digits, chipping in 15 points and three steals.

Ashland jumped out to an early seven-point lead, 13-6, but Grand Valley cut into that deficit quickly. A three-point play by Wyngaard at the 13:50 mark made the score 13-9. Three-pointers by Cyplik and Wyngaard, sandwiched around another layup by Wyngaard, brought the Lakers to within one point with 9:48 left, 21-20. Grand Valley took their first lead of the game on the following basket, another long shot by Cyplik, this one coming at the 9:08 mark.

Two free throws by Zick with 5:39 remaining in the half gave GVSU a four-point lead, 27-23. Nicole Carr buried a jumper in the paint, extending the Lakers' lead to five points, 32-27, with 3:14 left in the first stanza. Liz Van Tiflin hit a three at the 1:00 mark, her only basket of the, to give the Lakers their halftime score of 35 points. Ashland hit one final shot to bring the score to 35-34 in favor of GVSU going into the locker rooms.

Ashland kept after the Lakers early in the second half, but with the score 40-39, Wyngaard took the ball away and threw it ahead to Zick, who made the layup to re-establish the three-point lead for the Lakers. Ashland retook the lead with 15:01 left in the game when Lisa Graue made a three-pointer to give the Eagles a 44-42 lead. That lead jumped to 48-42 before Wyngaard put in a layup to GVSU back to within four.

Ashland grabbed an eight-point lead, their largest of the game, when Graue made a layup in the paint with 6:44 left to make the score 57-49. A layup by Wyngaard and three free throws by Zick made short work of that lead and brought GVSU back to within three points. After Ashland rushed back to an eight-point lead, 67-59, with just 1:36 remaining, Grand Valley gave one final push. Zick made a jumper, and the following three by Cyplik cut it to a one-possession game, 67-64, with 54 seconds left. After a missed shot by the Eagles, the Lakers could not convert on their final possession and two free throws by Ashland gave them a 69-64 win.