No. 2 GVSU women's basketball tops rival Ferris State for fifth straight GLIAC title
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ALLENDALE - The Grand Valley State women's basketball team doesn't like giving up homecourt advantage.
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It can be pivotal in the postseason.
The Lakers are well aware of this and have done everything they can to protect homecourt in recent years.
The Lakers have 31 consecutive home wins since and have won 62 of their past 63 games at home during the four years of this senior class. No. 2 GVSU beat No. 13 Ferris State 70-44 on Thursday, Feb. 26, to close out the regular season with an outright GLIAC title - the fifth in a row.
"It is cool to see how we have grown, our class especially, from scout team to now being starters. It has been a big change, and we put a lot of time into it and this (title) shows that," GVSU senior Paige VanStee said. "We love it (when a game gets physical like this). We love the competition. This is a huge rivalry, and we know what it means to play Ferris."
That means, the Lakers (27-1, 19-1 GLIAC), will host the GLIAC Tournament next week at Grand Valley Field House, which saw 1,304 fans on Thursday. If they win that, they will almost assuredly host the first three rounds of the NCAA Division II tournament.
"It is just special because of all the work we have put in over the years," GVSU senior Nicole Kamin said. "It is so cool to get more chances to play at home, staying in the area, sleeping in your own bed and practicing on this court every day. It is definitely and advantage, especially with our fans."
That formula worked pretty well last year, leading to a national championship.
"They are all special and they are all different. The cool thing about this one is last year, we lost five really good seniors and to come back and do it again in one of the best years of the conference is special," GVSU coach Mike Williams said. "We have persevered and stayed the course."
GVSU's last home loss was in the NCAA Division II regional final on March 18, 2024, to rival Ferris State (49-46).
That was not going to be the case this time in the rivalry showdown.
The Lakers erupted quickly for a 12-0 run to start the game behind 3-pointers from MacKenzie Bisballe and Paige VanStee.
VanStee extended the lead with a scoop under the arm of a defender, then poked away the next possession from the Bulldogs and raced for the fastbreak layup, pushing the GVSU lead to 29-15 with 6:25 to go in the half.
It didn't get any closer. A couple of 3s from Kamin and four inside baskets from Ava Scanlon kept the pace for the Lakers.
VanStee finished with 17 points and 14 rebounds. Bisballe had 18 points and two steals. Kamin finished with 11 points, five assists, three steals and three blocks. Scanlan finished with eight points and Lexi Plitzuweit dished out four assists.
Ferris State (23-5, 16-3 GLIAC) was led by Mia Riley with 16 points and 10 rebounds.
The Bulldogs might have a shot against the Lakers again in the GLIAC Tournament or even the NCAA Tournament.
"We knew we had to get ahead of the physicality and handle ourselves in the paint. We have to do that a lot better than we did," Ferris State coach Kurt Westendorp said. "Offensively, we have to get into a better flow. This one stings, but we might have a chance at them the next two weeks. That is a deserving championship team that will take an A-plus effort to beat."
Contact sports editor Dan D’Addona at Dan.D’[email protected]. Follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter @DanDAddona or Facebook @HollandSentinelSports.
This article originally appeared on The Holland Sentinel: GVSU women's basketball beats Ferris State for GLIAC championship