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Third Time Not the
Charm for AU Women’s Basketball Versus Grand Valley State |
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By Paul Carmany, AU Sports Information For the second time in seven days, the Grand Valley State women’s basketball team jumped out to a sizable early lead against Ashland and used its stingy defense to preserve the advantage. On Saturday (March 4), GVSU opened the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) championship game with an 18-2 lead against the Eagles and went on to victory. This afternoon (March 10), the Lakers built a 17-2 cushion just 5:34 into the NCAA Division II Great Lakes Regional Tournament first round affair and went on to win, 87-59. The victory at Drury University’s Weiser Gymnasium in Springfield, MO, was Grand Valley State’s third against AU this season. The Lakers, ranked 10th nationally and seeded second in the region, won their 17th straight game and are now 28-3. Seventh-seeded Ashland saw its third straight 20-win season and its second trip to the NCAA Tournament in three seasons end at 21-11. GVSU’s Erika Ryskamp opened the scoring with the first of her five three-pointers 1:18 into the game. Ashland senior DeAndria Bethune, playing her 118th and final contest in an Eagle uniform, struck back with an acrobatic, left-handed layup that made the score 3-2. The Lakers then reeled off the next 14 points, with four of their five starters getting into the act. Coach Sue Ramsey’s squad was not ready to throw in the towel just yet, though. AU scored the next six points, including a pair of buckets by Amber Rall, to shave the advantage to 17-9. The second of back-to-back layups by Catherine Portyrata made the score 28-22 in favor of Grand Valley State 6:54 before the intermission. Ryskamp then connected on a layup and a three-pointer, putting the Laker lead back into double digits. Ashland would be unable to trim the advantage to single digits the rest of the way. Grand Valley State owned a 48-32 lead at the break despite just five points from its usual leading scorer, Niki Reams. Most of the halftime stats were rather even except for the Lakers’ hot shooting. GVSU connected on 52.6 percent of its field goal attempts and swished five three-pointers, four of them off the hands of Ryskamp. AU twice trimmed the lead to 14 points in the second half, but the deficit was too much to overcome against a team that has yielded 60 points or more just twice in the last 17 contests. Rall led the Eagles with 16 points and went over the 1,500-point plateau for her career with one season remaining. Lisa Graue added nine points, four rebounds and four assists. Lynsey Warren came off the bench to post eight points and grab four boards. All three of AU’s seniors were able to contribute to the Eagle effort. Bethune totaled six points and three steals. Nicole Wright scored all six of her points in the second half and pulled down five rebounds. Maria Dehne grabbed an offensive rebound during her time on the court. One team statistic that leapt off Ashland’s half of the page was the team’s free throw accuracy. The Eagles, who had connected on 74.6 percent of their charity tosses this season entering this game, went 10-for-10 from the line. Four of Grand Valley State’s starters reached double figures in the scoring column, paced by Ryskamp’s 22 points. The junior guard, who scored 26 points in GVSU’s first game against Ashland this season, tallied 18 first half markers, pulled down five rebounds and dished out four assists. Julia Braseth totaled 15 points and five caroms. Crystal Zick recorded a double-double, finishing with 13 points, 10 assists and four steals. Erin Cyplik added 11 points. Grand Valley State will move on to play third-seeded Northern Kentucky in the first of two semifinals Saturday evening (March 11) at 6 p.m. Central. |