ALLENDALE, Mich. -- The Wayne State University women's basketball team (15-10 overall, 10-7 GLIAC) was defeated 85-67 at third-ranked Grand Valley State University (26-2 overall, 16-1 GLIAC).  WSU trailed for all but 48 seconds in the competition.

HOW IT HAPPENED
FIRST QUARTER 
Grand Valley State began the game by scoring the first six points of the contest.  Alyssa Leister (St. Louis, Mich. / Alma) put WSU on the board with a deep-range jumper, but the Lakers quickly responded with a triple of their own (9-3).  At the 7:13 mark, McKenna Ferguson (Grandville, Mich. / Byron Center) netted a lay-up to cut the GVSU lead to four.  Just over one minute later, MacKenzie Bisballe extended the Grand Valley State advantage to six (11-5).  Another Ferguson bucket, this time from behind the line, brought WSU within three points (11-8), but the Lakers once again responded as Ellie Droste drove to the basket and found the bottom of the net.  Ferguson splashed on another triple to make it a two-point game (13-11) but five consecutive points from the hosts extended the scoring margin (18-11).  Tripp knocked down a pair of free throws and Abrie Cabana (GVSU) connected on a pull-up jumper (21-13).  It was a three-point barrage for the remainder of the period, as the final five buckets were all from deep.  The Lakers made two triples, while the Warriors knocked down three as Gabi Lutchka (Grass Lake, Mich.) splashed two and Annabel Ayrault (Grosse Pointe Woods, Mich. / Grosse Pointe North) downed one (27-22).

SECOND QUARTER
GVSU scored the first four points on the second stanza.  Ferguson found Mackenzie Miller (Schoolcraft, Mich. / Schoolcraft [Lakeland University]) for a jumper to put WSU back in the scoring column.  The next six points belonged to the Lakers, but an eight-point Warrior spurt brought the visitors within five (37-32) with just under four minutes remaining in the half.  GVSU went on a 9-2 run before a triple from Lutchka and jumper from Tripp made the score 46-39 after the first two quarters.

THIRD QUARTER
The squads exchanged jumpers to begin the third period, as Kathryn Schmidt (GVSU) knocked down a triple and Taylor Thompson (Grand Blanc, Mich.) connected on a mid-range jump shot.  Tripp made good on a lay-up attempt (49-43), before Cabana made another long-range jumper.  Lutchka responded with a three-point field goal of her own, but Rylie Bisballe nailed one from deep to push GVSU's lead to nine points (55-46).  The Lakers closed the period with a 12-5 run and held a 67-51 advantage entering the final quarter.

FOURTH QUARTER
After Grand Valley State scored the first two points by way of the charity stripe, the Green and Gold went on a seven-point run to lessen their deficit to 11 (69-58).  An 11-2 spurt for GVSU put the Lakers ahead by 20 (80-60) with just over five minutes to play.  The hosts out-paced the Warriors 7-5 for the remainder of the contest.

TEAM STATS
Grand Valley State made 53.3 percent of its field-goal attempts (32-of-60) to 46.3 percent from Wayne State (25-of-54).  Both teams shot well from behind the arc as WSU made 50 percent of its shots (11-of-22) and the Lakers made 46.4 percent of their attempts (13-of-28).  GVSU won the rebounding battle 31-29 and caused 26 turnovers while only giving the ball away 18 times.

LEADING THE WARRIORS
Gabi Lutchka (17), McKenna Ferguson (15), and Shea Tripp (12) all scored in double figures with Tripp leading the way in both rebounds with six and assists with seven.  Ferguson recorded a team-high four steals.

LEADING THE LAKERS
Rylie Bisballe notched a game-best 19 points while nabbing six rebounds and totaling four steals.  Abrie Cabana was 5-of-7 from deep for 15 points.  MacKenzie Bisballe had four assists and three blocks while making all of her shot attempts (5-of-5 for 11 points).

NEXT UP
The Wayne State women's basketball squad will play its final regular season road game on Saturday, February 22 at Davenport University with tip-off slated for 1:00 PM at the DU Student Center.