Lady Hornets fall in overtime to No. 3 Grand Valley State
By Jesse Newell
Tuesday, December 19, 2006
The battle of two goliaths lived up to its billing, as Erin Cyplik’s jump shot with .7 seconds remaining in overtime lifted Grand Valley State to a 73-71 overtime victory over the Lady Hornets in the Northern Kentucky Classic in Highland Heights, Ky.
“I feel a little bit of a positive feeling after a game like this,” ESU coach Brandon Schneider said on his postgame radio show, “because you lose an overtime game to a team that’s the defending National Champion and probably one of the better teams in the country, and you do it when you’re not playing very well.”
The two teams nearly matched basket for basket down the stretch, as the second half and overtime combined for nine ties and 10 lead changes.
With the game tied at 63 with 28 seconds left, Erika Ryskamp rebounded a Julia Braseth miss and made a layup to give GVSU the two-point edge.
After an ESU timeout, Michelle Stueve missed a short jumper, but Casey Henningsen grabbed the rebound and made the follow to tie it at 65.
Crystal Zick — who was closely guarded by ESU’s Carolyn Dorsey — missed a shot at the buzzer, sending the game to overtime.
ESU started the final period strong. Cassondra Boston scored two on a fast break, and following a Ryskamp free throw, Stueve rebounded an Andrea Leiker miss and was fouled, setting up a three-point play that gave the Lady Hornets a 70-66 lead with 2:40 remaining.
Ryskamp and Zick made shots to trim the lead to 71-70, and ESU became careless with the basketball in the final minute.
Stueve turned the ball over with 50 seconds remaining, then fouled Ryskamp, who hit one of two free throws to tie it at 71.
Dorsey lost the handle on the next possession, giving GVSU a chance at the final shot with 30 seconds left. Ryskamp missed a shot with 5 seconds remaining, but Taushauna Churchwell passed the rebound to Cyplik, who hit the baseline jumper with .7 seconds remaining to give the Lakers the lead.
ESU’s inbounds pass was stolen, sealing the GVSU victory.
“I feel a lot different about this loss than I do the other one,” Schneider said. “We lost the game against Metro State because of really poor effort. We told the kids in the locker room we lost this game because of another ‘E’ word, and that’s execution.”
ESU put itself in an early hole with sloppy play on the offensive end.
Grand Valley scored the first nine points, while the Lady Hornets had trouble even getting shots up. Through six minutes, ESU had 10 turnovers and only four shots. The Lakers grabbed a 9-2 advantage in that time.
The Lady Hornets quickly responded. Denisa Svarova scored consecutive baskets, and Henningsen added a two on a pass from Leiker as ESU trimmed the lead to 9-8.
After a Ryskamp made jumper, Svarova hit a layup and Boston added a 3-pointer to give ESU its first advantage at 13-11.
The Lady Hornets held the Lakers to just one field goal over a 6-minute, 40-second span to grab the lead.
Genae Glasper — who had to sit out the first semester because she was academically ineligible — immediately made her mark in her first game back. She scored seven of the Lady Hornets’ next nine points — including a three-point play and also a lay-in off a steal — to help ESU to its largest lead at 24-18.
“We got exactly what we expect out of her,” Schneider said. “It’s apparent that she’s not quite in that game shape yet. She can’t go for very long, but she made some big plays for us.”
GVSU scored the final seven points of the half to go up 25-24 at intermission.
Henningsen led ESU with 18 points, making 8 of her 10 field-goal attempts. Boston added 16 points, while Glasper contributed 11 in her season debut.
The All-American Stueve was held in check all night, scoring just seven points on 2-of-11 shooting. She had no points in the first half, starting the game 0-for-6 from the field.
“It’s just mental,” Schneider said. “Admittedly, her thought process right now is that every shot she takes she doesn’t think is going in. You’re not going to make them doing that.”
Braseth paced GVSU with 24 points, with 17 of those coming in the second half. She played all 45 minutes.
Ryskamp added 18, while Zick put in 15.
The Lady Hornets made just 11 of their 19 attempts (58 percent) from the free-throw line. GVSU, on the other hand, made 17 of its 24 shots (71 percent) from the charity stripe.
“If we shoot even decent from the foul line,” Schneider said, “I think it’s a game we probably win.”
ESU drops to 7-2 with the loss. The Lady Hornets will face Northern Michigan (3-6) at 4:30 this afternoon in their final game of the Classic.