Box Score Earlier this season, AU senior forward Liz Tyler (Monroeville, Ohio) missed two games with concussion-like symptons.
Thursday night (Feb. 10) at Kates Gymnasium, Tyler caused the Grand Valley State Lakers, ranked 23rd in the country, a major headache. Tyler scored a career-high 21 points, including five points in the game's final 16 seconds, as the Eagles dodged the Lakers, 55-54.
With AU clinging to a 50-49 lead and 16 seconds remaining in regulation, Tyler buried a triple with the shot clock winding down for a 53-49 AU lead. That was her only three-point attempt of the game.
After a 10-foot jumper by Briauna Taylor with seven seconds left cut the Ashland margin to 53-51, the Lakers (17-5/10-5) fouled Tyler with six seconds left. She calmly dropped in two free throws for a 55-51 AU edge. A three-pointer by GVSU guard Jasmine Padin at the final horn brought the Lakers to within a single point.
This was only GVSU's second loss away from home this season – the Lakers are 9-2 outside of Allendale, Mich. The Eagles (14-7, 9-5) never trailed in this game. On this night, no AU team trailed because in the men's game, the Eagles led from start to finish. This is the first time the Eagles swept a basketball doubleheader from Grand Valley State since the 1999-2000 season. This victory also broke a five-game losing streak by the AU women against the Lakers.
The Eagles shot out to a 20-3 lead with 10:17 left in the first half. GVSU got that down to six points, 20-14 with 4:43 left in the half, but the Eagles regrouped and outscored the visitors, 10-4 the remainder of the half to lead at the break, 30-18.
In the first half, the Eagles surprisingly had their way with the Lakers, who came to AU with a four-game winning streak. Over the first 20 minutes, AU outscored the Lakers in the paint, 20-8. Sophomore forward Daiva Gerbec (Dublin, Ohio/Bishop Watterson) scored 14 of her 20 points in the first half. At that point, Gerbec was getting the better of GVSU's outstanding center, Alex Stelfox. The GVSU center would finish with eight points and a team-high nine boards.
Ashland's first half defense was suffocating, the Lakers shot only 18.8 percent (6-of-32) from the field and had nine turnovers. From three-point range, GVSU was 2-of-9 (22.2 percent) in the first half.
As well as the Eagles played in the first half, that 12-point lead was far from safe. The Lakers know how to play defense and they were able to wear down an AU team with a short roster. With 18:58 left in the game, AU led the Lakers, 35-18. It was shortly after that the Lakers pulled their act together. In the second half, they outrebounded the Eagles, 20-8 and shot 53.8 percent (14-of-26) from the field.
AU's last double-digit lead came with 10:07 to play in regulation. At that point, the Eagles led, 42-31. But AU would score only 12 points in the last 10:07. Meanwhile, GVSU forward Briauna Taylor was torching the Eagles from far and wide. She scored 20 of her game-high 26 points in the second half. Taylor was 1-for-8 shooting in the first half. After the break, she was 9-for-13 and collected five rebounds.
The good news for the Eagles is that they were able to withstand every charge the Lakers mounted. With 3:02 left, Ashland led, 49-45. At the 2:20 mark, it was 49-47, Eagles. Grand Valley got to 50-49 with 1:44 to go on a layup by Taylor. That set the stage for Tyler's late laser from three-point range. For the year, Tyler has 10 three-point field goals. In her last two games before Thursday, she was 2-for-10 from that distance.
Tyler and Gerbec were the only AU players to reach double digits in scoring. Freshman guard Alyssa Miller (Zanesville, Ohio/Tri-Valley) dished out a season-high seven assists.
The Eagles return to action on Saturday (Feb. 12, 3 p.m.) when they host Ferris State.
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