Grand Valley State women's basketball one win from another DII national title
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The Laker Show rolls on.
The Grand Valley State women's basketball team shook off a sluggish start and rolled past Alabama-Huntsville, 61-39, in the Women's Division II Final Four on Thursday night at UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse in Pittsburgh.
GVSU (35-1) is one win away from its second consecutive national championship, and third in program history.
The Lakers will play Indiana (Pa.) in the championship game at 3 p.m. Saturday in Pittsburgh. Grand Valley State has beaten its five NCAA Tournament opponents by an average of 26.4 points.
Redshirt senior guard/forward Paige VanStee (Middleville) scored 19 to lead the Lakers, while sophomore forward MacKenzie Bisballe (Lake City) and redshirt senior guard Nicole Kamin (Escanaba) each scored 13.
Bisballe also had 19 rebounds for Grand Valley State. The Lakers won the rebounding battle, 64-28, allowing them to get off 21 more shots than Alabama-Huntsville. That's why the Lakers survived despite shooting just 28.8%.
BOX SCORE:Grand Valley State 61, Alabama-Huntsville 39
Grand Valley State was tested early in the game, leading just 14-13 after a first quarter in which the Lakers were 6-for-25 shooting from the field (24%), including 0-for-5 from 3-point range. The Lakers led, 29-22, at the half, before blowing the game open in the third quarter.
Lili Wilken scored 14 and Chloe Siegel 12 for Alabama-Huntsville (32-6), which also shot just 28.8% for the game.
The Lakers, led by head coach Mike Williams, in his 11th season, have lost just once this season, to rival Wayne State in Detroit in February. Grand Valley State went 38-2 last season in winning the program's second national championship, first since 2006.
In the Men's Division II NCAA Tournament, Michigan Tech lost to Gannon, 75-49, in the Elite Eight round Wednesday, also in Pittsburgh. Tech (29-7) set a program record for wins.
Women's Division II NCAA Tournament championship game
GRAND VALLEY STATE VS. INDIANA (PA.)
▶ Tip-off: 3 p.m. Saturday, UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse, Pittsburgh
▶ TV: ESPN+
▶ Records: Grand Valley State 35-1; Indiana (Pa.) 31-3
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This article originally appeared on The Detroit News: Grand Valley State women's basketball in final in Div. 2 Final Four