March Madness was in full force on Friday afternoon (Mar. 11) in Ashland, Ohio, when the seventh-seeded Grand Valley State Lakers topped second-seeded Lewis by a 72-70 score on a game-winning jumper from junior guard Janae Langs with 3.7 seconds remaining. It was the opening round of the NCAA Midwest Region Tournament and the Lakers advanced by beating Lewis, the #6 team in all of Division II.

After Lewis tied the game at 70-70 with eight seconds left in the game, Langs took a pass from junior Kayla Dawson near the right sideline, drove left, and pulled up for a short jumper just outside of the paint. Langs nailed the shot with 3.7 seconds left to put Grand Valley State ahead. Lewis inbounded the ball to two-time GLVC Player of the Year Mariyah Brawner-Henley, who raced up court to attempt a last-second shot. Her attempt was short and likely would not have counted, as it appeared to come after time expired.

Grand Valley State improves to 23-9 on the season and earns its first NCAA Tournament win since Mar. 25, 2006, when the Lakers defeated American International 58-52 to win the NCAA Division II National Championship. Lewis drops to 28-3 on the season; two of the Flyers' three losses came at the expense of GVSU. On Nov. 25, 2015, the Lakers topped Lewis 71-63 in Allendale.

The Lakers now have a rematch of last Saturday's GLIAC Tournament semifinal game, as GVSU will face Saginaw Valley State at 5:00 p.m. on Saturday night (Mar. 12). In that conference tournament semifinal - also in Ashland, Ohio - last weekend, Grand Valley State topped SVSU by a 76-51 final.

Langs' game-winning jumper is her second of this postseason. In the GLIAC Tournament quarterfinals on Mar. 1 in Houghton, Langs drained a late three-pointer in overtime to defeat Michigan Tech, 65-63. She finished Friday's game with a team-high 16 points, while adding four rebounds, three assists, and zero turnovers in 39 minutes.

Four Lakers reached double-digits. Redshirt freshman Taylor Parmley added 15 points and seven rebounds off the bench, as she made 8-of-10 free throws in 26 minutes of action. Juniors Bailey Cairnduff and Lindsay Baker each added 12 points and both players knocked down a pair of three-pointers.

In an incredibly tight postseason game, there were 17 lead changes and the score was tied 10 different times. The biggest lead of the game for either team was eight points; Grand Valley State's largest advantage was just four points.

GVSU went 10-of-26 from three-point range, as seven different players connected on a trifecta. The Lakers committed just six turnovers and forced 15 Lewis miscues, which equaled an 18-4 edge in points off of turnovers. For the game, Grand Valley State shot 39.7 percent from the field and was 16-of-22 at the line.

Lewis shot 46.2 percent from the floor, but was just 3-of-14 from beyond the arc. The Flyers did shoot 19-of-26 at the charity stripe and outrebounded GVSU, 46-25.

It was a slow start for both teams and Lewis took a 16-8 lead towards the end of the first quarter. Baker was fouled with 2.5 seconds to play and sank a pair of free throws. Lewis then turned the ball over in the backcourt, Baker picked it up a few steps inside halfcourt and quickly tossed it at the hoop. The ball banked in off the glass as time expired to give Baker and the Lakers five points in the final two-plus seconds.

The Lewis lead was 16-13 heading into the second quarter before Parmley drained a three-pointer to tie the game at 16-16. Lewis pulled back out to a 24-17 lead, but Langs and freshman center Lindsay Kusbel nailed consecutive three-pointers to cut it to a one-point game. At halftime, the Flyers led 30-27.

Lewis and GVSU would go back and forth in a tight third quarter, where the game was tied five times in those 10 minutes. Langs' layup with three seconds left in the quarter tied the game at 49-49 and set the stage for a great fourth frame.

A three-pointer from Cairnduff with 4:43 to play put the Lakers on top, 59-57. From there, Grand Valley State would not trail again. Lewis cut the score to 65-64 with less than two minutes left and Cairnduff made another clutch triple with 90 seconds remaining. Two Cairnduff freebies put GVSU in front 70-68 with 16 seconds to go, but Lewis answered with the game-tying layup with eight seconds to go from GLVC Freshman of the Year Jessica Kelliher.

Grand Valley State head coach Mike Williams - an assistant coach on the 2005-06 National Championship team - called a timeout and the coaching staff drew up the final play, which ended with Langs draining her second game-winning shot in March.

Baker, Cairnduff, and Langs all hit a pair of three-pointers, as Parmley, Kusbel, and juniors Kayla Dawson and Taylor Lutz also connected on a trifecta. Lutz added eight points, five rebounds, five assists, and zero turnovers.

Brawner-Henley paced Lewis with an incredible performance of 15 points, 20 rebounds, six assists, three blocks, and two steals. Kelliher led all players with 20 points, four rebounds, and four assists.

The Lakers' 23 victories are tied for fourth-most in a single season in school history. GVSU won a school-record 33 games in 2005-06, 28 in 2004-05, and 24 in 2002-03.