By Lindsey Soet
On March 5, the Grand Rapids Community College women’s basketball team traveled to Escanaba to face off against Bay College in the quarterfinals of the Great Lakes C Tournament. The Raiders were able to make a comeback in the second half, but they ultimately fell short to Bay College, ending their season, 66-57.
The first quarter started off slow for the Raiders, allowing Bay College to score eight points before freshman forward Sophia Modderman’s two successful free throws put GRCC on the board with 6:05 remaining in the quarter. GRCC continued to struggle for the rest of the quarter, shooting only 8.3% from the field and 12.5% from the three-point line. The Raiders also had five turnovers compared to Bay College’s one. GRCC ended the first quarter down 19-7.
GRCC fared better in the second quarter, but Bay College continued to expand their lead. Freshman forward Kaylie VanDerHulst kept the Raiders afloat in the second quarter, scoring six points. The Raiders shot 23.5% from the field and were unable to score any three-point shots. GRCC ended the first half down by 22 points, 32-20.
The Raiders found their footing in the third quarter, scoring 20 points and shrinking the gap between them and Bay College. GRCC took control of the rebounds in the third quarter with 14 compared to Bay College’s five, proving to be a major factor in their success. Freshman forward Ava Schultz also played a big role in this quarter, scoring seven points for the Raiders. GRCC shot 35% from the field and 40% from the three-point line. Although the Raiders didn’t take the lead, they managed to make it an eight-point game as they headed into the fourth quarter down 48-40.
GRCC planned to carry their third-quarter momentum into the fourth quarter to surpass Bay College, but their unexpected foul trouble prevented it. The Raiders amassed eight personal fouls in the final 10 minutes of the game, with VanDerHulst being fouled out of the game with 1:44 left to play. The Norse were able to snag an additional six points from free throws compared to GRCC’s two points. Despite this, the Raiders managed not to fall too far behind Bay College because of freshman guard Tia Richard’s eight points in the quarter. The Raiders ended the game behind Bay College, resulting in an end to their 2023-2024 season, 66-57.
Schultz was the leading scorer for the Raiders, with 15 points, six rebounds, one assist and two steals. Richard was also the leading scorer for GRCC, with 15 points, six rebounds, six assists and one steal. VanDerHulst scored 11 points, seven rebounds and one assist.
Despite ultimately losing to Bay College, head coach David Glazier said he was pleased with his team. “I couldn’t have been more proud of our performance tonight. Avery Jirous did an outstanding job. We shared the ball, we played together and played for each other,” Glazier stated via text.
Schultz reflected upon the season, saying she was proud of the team’s close bond and ability to persevere. “We excelled in our team chemistry and striving through adversity. There were a lot of challenges this year and we never gave up and kept getting better,” Schultz stated via text.
VanDerHulst said she believed that the team improved as they gained more experience. “Overall we’ve grown a lot from the start of the season to the end. We found that trust in each other and everybody knew their (role) as we got further into the season and that’s all that matters. It’s not about how we started, it’s about how we finished,” VanDerHulst stated via text.
The Raiders ended their season with an overall record of 10-16 and a conference record of 7-7.
Glazier is excited for the next season, as the current team is made almost entirely up of freshmen.
“…We’ve got 10 freshmen who saw a lot of minutes and gained a tremendous amount of experience,” Glazier stated, “We are excited to see what (a) summer of workouts can mean moving into next year.”
