Holland Reporter

The GVSU women's basketball team is set to begin the New Year with two home games against Michigan Tech and Northern Michigan as part of their GLIAC schedule. The Lakers will face the Huskies on Thursday night, followed by a Saturday afternoon game against the Wildcats.

GVSU enters 2025 with a strong record of 12-1, ranking first nationally. They remain undefeated against Division II opponents, having recently defeated Northwood in December. Abrie Cabana played a key role in that victory, scoring a career-high 21 points and earning GLIAC Offensive Player of the Week honors. Ellie Droste contributed 13 points in their 76-45 win. The Lakers are ranked among the top ten nationally in several categories: third in scoring margin (+29.4), sixth in assists per game (18.5), seventh in turnover margin (+8.77), eighth in scoring defense (51.2 ppg), and tenth in scoring offense (80.5 ppg).

Last season, GVSU won both games against Michigan Tech, including a dominant performance at home with a score of 74-30, allowing only eight points in the first half. Ellie Droste was the leading scorer with 13 points, while Rylie Bisballe and Megan Crow each scored 12 points. In their away game at Houghton, GVSU secured a win with a score of 57-46, aided by Bisballe's impressive performance of 17 points and nine rebounds.

Michigan Tech has had mixed results this season, starting off with a record of 2-5 but recovering to win two out of their last three games. Isabella Lenz leads four players averaging double figures for MTU and ranks third in the GLIAC with an average of 15.8 points per game.

The Lakers also faced Northern Michigan four times last season and emerged victorious each time, including wins during regular-season matchups and postseason tournaments such as the GLIAC Championship and Midwest Regional semifinals.

Northern Michigan began this season strong with an eight-game winning streak but has since lost two consecutive games to Northwood and Ashland to close out 2024. Jacy Weisbrod leads NMU's scoring efforts at fifth place within the GLIAC standings averaging around 15.5 points per game.

Fans can follow both upcoming games through live stats or streaming services available online or via radio broadcasts on stations like The Ticket (106 .1 FM/1340 AM), Thunder Country (107 .3 FM), or WLCS (98 .3). Social media updates are also accessible via @gvsuwbb on various platforms along with full coverage on GVSUlakers.com.