ASHLAND, Ohio - The No. 6 Grand Valley State Lakers are back in the NCAA Division II Midwest Regional Championship after a 74-69 win over No. 5 Drury Panthers on Saturday night at the Cates Gymnasium.
The Lakers will face the winner of the semi-final between Ashland and Walsh on Monday at 7 pm. Tip in Ashland.
The win would be at least the second-best win percentage for a season in the program's history and the 29th win of the year alone is the third all-time win. It will be the second time in four years that the Lakers will reach the regional finals and the third time in seven seasons that they will reach head coach Mike Williams.
Emily Spitzel led with eight rebounds and three made three with a career-high 28 points. Kay Stanton also scored a career-best 18 points, four assists and swiped three steals with two blocks. Ellie Drost hit a clutch free throw to collect 13 points, leading to nine fouls throughout the game.
The back-and-forth affair saw 12 major changes and eight ties, including a score of 16-16 after the first quarter. The Lakers opened their biggest lead of the night with back-to-back threes from Hannah Kulas, to go 27-22 in the middle of the second quarter. The Panthers responded with a 9–0 run to take the lead, but Spitzel drilled a three and made a dash in the bucket for a layup, halving the deficit to 33–32.
The Lakers scored four points in the first quarter and took Drury 20–13 in the period, and Spitzel scored 10 points, including a pair of threes, and took a 52–46 lead in the fourth. quarter.
The Lakers did not allow a three by the Panthers in the first three quarters, leading to a miss in the Panthers' first 14 attempts. Drury narrowed the lead to 52–50, but GVSU responded with an 8–0 run, capped by a Spitzley sprint-out for a layup to open the lead to 60–50. The Lakers lead would be reduced to five twice, but Drew would never return to a possession.
The Lakers are looking for a fourth iteration of the program's Elite Eight at Monday's regional championships.