Top-ranked GVSU pushed by Davenport before Nicole Kamin, Avery Lay key winning really

ALLENDALE - The top-ranked Grand Valley State women's basketball team had to be patient and creative to remain undefeated.

Outside shots weren't falling - in fact the Lakers were 0-for-8 from 3-point range in the first half - and meanwhile, shots were falling for Davenport.

Advertisement

But a third-quarter rally backed by strong defense leading to quick baskets aided by great passes allowed the defending NCAA champions to pull away from Davenport 78-57 on Jan. 15, at Grand Valley Fieldhouse.

More: No. 1 GVSU women roll past Purdue Northwest, Alderink leads men to win

More: No. 1 GVSU women survive Wayne State with VanStee's game-winner in final seconds

Nicole Kamin came out energized in the second half and propelled the winning rally with three baskets.

"We talk about coming out in the second half with energy," GVSU senior Nicole Zeinstra said. "It was good to see Nicole bring that energy (and get it started)."

Meanwhile, Avery Lay scored six of her 12 points during the run as GVSU turned a two-point lead into a 51-41 lead.

Advertisement

"The confidence we all have in each other really let us be patient and get some shots to fall," Lay said. "We just talked about staying the course."

Molly Anderson scored under the basket at the third-quarter buzzer to push the lead to 61-44.

"We didn't play poorly in the first half. It was actually a pretty good half, I mean we didn't make any 3s and they got us on the glass in the first half," GVSU coach Mike Williams said. "The start of the second half, we really started scoring the basketball."

Injury update

Sophomore post player MacKenzie Bisballe was in street clothes during the game. She sustained a broken toe last week at Northern Michigan.

Advertisement

The injury isn't expected to keep her out more than a couple of games.

Bisballe is GVSU's leading scorer at 15.3 points per game.

In her place, the Lakers went with a smaller lineup, inserting guard Avery Zeinstra in her place.

Ava Scanlon and Lay saw more minutes and made the most of them Scanlon had seven points and four rebounds. Lay had 12 points and four rebounds.

Contact sports editor Dan D’Addona at Dan.D’Addona@hollandsentinel.com. Follow him on X, formerly known as  Twitter @DanDAddona or Facebook @HollandSentinelSports.

This article originally appeared on The Holland Sentinel: Grand Valley State women's basketball beats Davenport behind Kamin