ALLENDALE, Mich. - The GLIAC opener for the women's basketball team was no easy task as they traveled to No. 2 Grand Valley State on Friday. The Panthers came out with a fury after trailing 3-0 in the first minute. They would score the next 10 points as
Alexa Kolnitys made a pair of three-pointers and
Lillee Gustafson could twice on layups. DU would keep the lead at the end of the first quarter at 12-11. The Lakers shot 22.2 percent in the quarter including 0-of-6 from the arc and 3-of-9 at the free throw line.
GVSU regained the lead at 15-12 in the first two minutes of the second quarter and started the quarter on a 6-0 run. The Lakers scored six straight points again to take a 26-16 lead with 2:10 left until halftime.
Jaci Walker hit a jumper with 39 seconds left in the quarter to make it 26-18 and Grand Valley State would lead 30-20 at the break. Davenport shot 36 percent in the second quarter, while the Lakers bumped up to 42 percent in the quarter but finished the first half shooting 1-of-13 from the arc.
GVSU scored the first seven points of the third quarter and seized control of the game at that point. Ellie Droste canned a triple at the 7:45 mark to extend the lead to 37-20. Gustafson got the deficit under double digits at 37-28 with 4:12 left in the quarter. DU trailed 45-34 at the end of the third quarter as Droste again nailed a three-pointer with 36 seconds left.
The Lakers outscored the Panthers 21-10 in the final quarter en route to the final score of 66-44. GVSU improved to 7-0, 1-0 GLIAC while Davenport is now 1-7, 0-1 GLIAC. Kolnitys led the Panthers with 12 points, which was a season high for her and the fourth time hitting double digits in her career. Gustafson had her second straight game with a double-double going for 11 points and 10 rebounds. It was her 16th career double-double and third this season.
Mary Liedel finished with eight points and a career-high four steals in 26 minutes.
Davenport will be back home to face Tiffin on Saturday, Dec. 16 at 2:00 PM.
