MARQUETTE, Mich. — It was a historic night for the GVSU women's basketball team, as Mike Williams became the program's winningest coach, the Lakers won their third consecutive GLIAC title, and Rylie Bisballe scored her 1,000th career point. Those accolades did not come easy, as GVSU had to battle into overtime to hold off Northern Michigan 74-67.
The win was the 234th victory in the career of Williams. It moved him out of a tie with Pat Baker Grzyb, who coached from 1978-1995. Through his nine seasons, Williams has a record of 234-46, a winning percentage of .836. He earned his 400th career coaching victory earlier this season in the win over Purdue Northwest.
GVSU got out to a 5-0 lead and extended it up to 9-4 just over halfway through the first quarter, but NMU responded with a 6-0 run to end the quarter leading 10-9.
A Wildcat three to begin the second brought their lead up to four points. The Lakers responded with a 6-0 run to retake the lead at 15-13. A Hadley Miller triple extended the lead up to five points at the halfway point of the quarter. Following a Wildcat basket, Abrie Cabana hit another Laker three-pointer to put GVSU up by six. NMU once again battled back to cut into the lead and trailed 29-27 at the break.
The third quarter was all about Rylie Bisballe and Hadley Miller, as the pair scored all 17 of the Lakers points in the period. Bisballe scored the first four of the quarter, Miller hit two three around two Bisballe free throws, and then Bisballe closed it out with the final five. The final bucket for her was a buzzer-beating three-pointer that pushed her past 1,000 points in her career, becoming just the 29th player in program history to achieve that mark. It also put GVSU 46-38 heading into the fourth.
A layup from Bisballe gave GVSU their largest lead of the day at 49-40 with 8:16 left in the period. The Wildcats battled back to bring it within one at 53-52. The Lakers hit three free throws to go up by four, but NMU buried a three with 14 seconds left to make it a one-point game again. Lexi Plitzuweit was fouled and made both free throws, but another Wildcat three tied the game and forced overtime.
Bisballe began the extra five minutes with a triple, followed by a Plitzuweit free throw, as GVSU got out to an early four-point lead. NMU came back to tie it at 62 with three minutes to play. From there, the Lakers took over, ending the game on a 12-5 run, getting seven more points from Bisballe to seal the game and the conference title.
The conference title is the third consecutive outright regular season crown for the Lakers, marking the longest since they won five straight from the 1974-75 season to the 1978-79 campaign. It ensures GVSU will host the GLIAC Tournament as long as they are still in the field.
Rylie Bisballe had a career night, scoring a personal best 28 points and grabbing eight boards. Hadley Miller hit four three-pointers to finish with 12 points and six rebounds. Abrie Cabana scored nine points and had five assists.
Up Next
GVSU closes out the regular season on Saturday at Michigan Tech. Tip-off is scheduled for 12:00.
