Box Score

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – A 16-3 run to end the game lifted No. 6 Davenport to an 80-74 win over cross-town rival Cornerstone on Saturday. The win clinches the Lady Panthers' sixth straight Wolverine Hoosier Athletic Conference (WHAC) title and the No. 1 seed in next week's conference tournament.  DU is now 26-4 on the season and finishes the WHAC slate 16-2.

Carrie Grubius led the scoring for DU as the senior posted 17 points while knocking down 3/8 from behind the arc.  Joining her in double-figures was Karli Harris with 16 and Abby Neff with 14.  DU struggled from the field most of the day finishing 27/73 (37%) while the Golden Eagles connected on 49% as the senior tandem of Melissa Veltkamp and Sam Flietstra combined for 58 of CU's 74 points.

The first half was controlled by the host Golden Eagles as they started the game with a 19-9 run that saw them connect on eight of their first nine shots (89%).  Davenport slowly chipped away at the lead behind the play of junior guard Karli Harris who posted 13 of her 16 in the opening 20 minutes. DU got within one at 29-28 but the home team rallied to take a 39-35 lead into the break.

Starting off the second half, Davenport turned up the pressure and grabbed their first lead of the game at 17:34 when Abby Neff converted a 3-point play. Cornerstone however continued to push behind Veltkamp and Flietstra and increased the margin to 8 at 69-61 and led by 7 with 3:04 to play.

Davenport then started the comeback as they scored the game's next 16 points to take an 80-71 lead. Five different players scored for DU during the run led by Abby Neff's five and Carrie Grubius' four

Post-Game Quotes – Head Coach Mike Williams

On 16-3 run to finish the game - “I thought we did a great job of taking care of the ball and forced
Cornerstone into turnovers. We also got to the foul line by attacking and being aggressive.  The shots eventually started to fall for us and not for them and that was huge.”

On 6^th Straight WHAC Title for program - “It means everything. Anywhere you go you want to win your conference and these players stood the test of time by going 16-2 against a solid conference from top to bottom”

Post - Game Notes

The win marks the sixth straight over Cornerstone and gives DU their sixth consecutive WHAC championship…DU also clinches a berth in the upcoming NAIA National Tournament which will be their 8^th consecutive appearance…Davenport will open up the 2012 WHAC Tournament on Thursday, February 18 with a home game at 7:30pm as the opponent is yet to be determined…

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