GLIAC - Grand Valley State (26-2 overall, 19-1 GLIAC), winners of 10 straight games, won the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference regular-season title outright with Thursday's victory over Davenport and will be the No. 1 seed during next week's GLIAC Tournament, which begins with four quarterfinal games Tuesday.
The Lakers, paced by GLIAC scoring and rebounding leader Cassidy Boensch, play host to No. 8 seed Wayne State (13-15 overall, 8-12 GLIAC) at 7 p.m. in Allendale. Boensch averages 20.3 points and 12.2 rebounds per game. As a team, GVSU ranks second in scoring offense at 75.2 points per game, while No. 2 seed Ashland (26-2 overall, 18-2 GLIAC) leads the league at 89.8 ppg.
GVSU ranks second behind No. 4 seed Northern Michigan (20-8 overall, 15-5 GLIAC) in scoring defense. The Eagles lead the league in field-goal percentage and rebounding.
Ashland's only losses this season were to Grand Valley State, 94-61 and 73-71, while GVSU's lone loss was to NMU, 56-43. The Eagles, led by Jodi Johnson and Sara Loomis averaging a combined 34.2 ppg, have won seven straight since their Feb. 2 setback to Grand Valley.
In other quarterfinal action, it's No. 5 Ferris State (14-12 overall, 11-9 GLIAC) at NMU at 6 p.m., No. 7 Parkside (12-14 overall, 10-10 GLIAC) at Ashland at 5:30 p.m., and No. 6 Northwood (13-15 overall, 10-10 GLIAC) at Michigan Tech (20-8 overall, 16-4 GLIAC) at 5:30 p.m.
During the regular season, Michigan Tech dropped two GLIAC decisions to GVSU, one to Ashland and one to Parkside. On Feb. 21, GVSU snapped Northern Michigan's five-game win streak, and the Wildcats closed out their regular season with a 60-55 loss at Michigan Tech. Ferris State is taking a three-game win streak into post-season play.
First-round winners advance to the semifinals, which begin Saturday, March 9, at the site of the highest remaining seed.
