Courtesy of Grand Valley State athletic communications

NCAA Division II Championship bracket

ASHLAND, Ohio – The No. 6 Grand Valley State Lakers’ women’s basketball team are Elite Eight bound after a 64-61 win over the No. 18 Walsh Cavaliers Monday (March 14) night in the NCAA Division II Midwest Regional final at Kates Gymnasium. The Lakers will play in the Elite Eight in Birmingham, Alabama next week with seeding and opponent to be determined for the opening round of the final site.

The Lakers improve to 30-2, the second-most wins in a single season in program history. This is the fourth time GVSU has reached the Division II Elite Eight, last doing so in 2016 when they also cut down the nets at Kates Gymnasium.

Ellie Droste hit a three-pointer with 1:50 left in regulation to break a 55-55 tie and the Lakers would never relinquish the lead. Droste scored a game-high 19 points en route to Regional Tournament MVP honors, scoring a total of 54 points across the three-game tournament.

After the Lakers scored the opening bucket, Walsh responded with 11 unanswered points to put the Lakers in an early hole. Qay Stanton knocked down a clutch three to get the Lakers back and sparked a 7-0 run to get back within two. The first half would see five lead changes and three ties with GVSU trailing, 28-27, at the half.

The Lakers scored the first four points of the third quarter and started to take the lead, but the back-and-forth continued. Hadley Miller knocked down a three to give the Lakers their largest lead of the day, up by six, with two minutes left in the third quarter. But the Laker offense hit a lull as Walsh scored 13 unanswered points to put the Lakers behind by seven with five minutes left in regulation.

Droste drew a foul and hit a pair of free throws to stop the scoring drought and start GVSU on the comeback trail and would eventually give the Lakers the lead for good.