>> Welcome back to an all-new episode of the Grand Valley State Sports reported wgu.

I'm your host Steve Lloyd Jones is what we have coming up for you tonight.

TV issue.

Women's basketball completed a two-game sweep on the road as they stayed undefeated in conference play.

Also dive deeper into the team in our future.

This week, Laker men's basketball split their road trip made 1, 5, of the last 6.

We'll also take a closer look at the TV issue.

Cross country teams and their trip to the NCAA championships as the student athletes transition and the indoor track and field season this week Lockett in Laker Nation as the Grand Valley State Sports report starts right now.

TV issue women's basketball is coming off.

Back-to-back road wins says the city of 14 1 on the season.

Joining us now to talk about his team's head coach Mike Williams.

Mike, great to see you again.

>> Yeah, good to be back.

We want a couple, 2, 3, weeks off and yeah, now been came downtown.

The sun was out.

We've got 14 wins.

This couple smile on your face and that too.

And road wins.

>> As we're going to talk about here, never easy out there who you're playing and you go win little bit of a road trip as you head over and you take on Parkside first and then trying to battle a Purdue northwest.

But heading into this a road trip, we act play.

What's the mindset into that might?

>> Well, you know, I think we you know, we battled test enough for the non-conference schedule.

We tried to be we know the conference is different.

You know, you know, this year, the Lakers, a very strong conferences.

It always been this has been, but this year, I think particularly released on top to bottom.

You know, you get a chance, go on the road.

We did go a chance, places and Lake State on the road.

We came home play downpour.

Then we're back down it, you know, part Park site in northwest.

And I think there the 2 really good teams they played released on schedules to let you know games are you don't see the separation and scores in the gliac this year like you had in the past.

That means you've got a lot of real balance teens and and that's what both these teamwork.

>> Yeah.

Wisconsin Parkside your first opponent.

You go into overtime to get this win.

83 73, tough.

1st half.

They were ahead of you really actually through the 3 quarters came back with a nice 4th quarter in overtime.

You you outscored by 10 to win by 10.

But that tested your model, you know, mentally and physically.

>> Yeah, I think 2 things.

I think we did get that 2nd half by midway through the 3rd early in the 3rd quarter.

We start to get some stops that we had and get.

We didn't get against Lewis.

We've got some crucial stops down the stretch which we didn't get against Lewis.

We can open up their offense a little bit.

You know, polar kind of a five-player post play up to the mid post.

Spread things out a little bit.

Yes, I have a cool us get to, you know, to 3 takes down the stretch one for an and one and we spent.

So it's a big shots in people's faces.

And I thought we rebound the ball really well, you know, that we get second chance points.

And and that's how we kept them off to get from second chance points in the only place.

You know, they're they're playing beat.

I think they'd be Tec de Uno and hold the one of them.

Don't beat saying on way.

That's gone way.

And so it was it was a really good win at Parkside.

>> Yeah, yeah, no, it isn't.

You read about it.

Well, as you said, 40 to 30 Lakers had the advantage there in that category.

Emily Spitz Lee leads the way 31 points for her, which had 4 players in double figures.

Turnovers.

A little bit of an issue in this game certainly would be the next game.

2, some miss free throws her Chubb it as well.

But I mean, those are things you can clean up, but and you prevail and you get this win.

And that's always nice, isn't it?

When you start a two-game road on a trip to get the win in the first game?

>> It was big to kind of the things we've got to become super seniors, you know, have a cool us and with Spitz Lee and have the kind of play in front of a lot of hometown players being from Milwaukee area.

A lot of people, though, she played really well.

You saw that down the stretch, some some big baskets and then Emily, again in this year, step up.

And, you know, I'm not a big 1,000.0 point guy, because it was not that I'm not.

I think it's, you know, a lot many other things we just before that.

But for her to get that 1000 point is a test.

When all the work he's put in the time she's put in in the gym, you're taking extra shots in the in the South Korean drilling around cones.

And so it's kind of nice little a feather in her cap.

But she did step up, hit big shots and made big plays.

And that's what super seniors need to do.

And they both did that this game.

>> All right.

To get that win.

83 73 in overtime to produce Northwest and you would win the 60 to 54 the push that overall record to 14, 1, 5, and O in Glee act play and again, solid effort all the way around.

You get it done.

You shoot the ball fairly well.

Overall only hit 2 threes, but a nice job otherwise and defensively, might that look like you're really put the clamps no more.

>> You know, I thought we did a good job helping each other out that we had been doing in previous games.

I thought we rebounded.

Well, I thought having a good job, they've got a really good score and not having Miller.

We try to keep her on her most of the game.

I thought she did a nice job check in or when she did get beat.

I thought we had players there to help, you know, and again, the progress that he might be in that game without history.

4 times we get to 11, we get to 10.

We get to 12 trying to separate and they just they would go away.

They come, you know, deadshot come down here, big shot and this Simmons inside.

So, you know, to get that win, the grant went out on the road I thought was show a lot of character by our team as well.

>> Yeah, we addressed the lead with 17 points.

3 players in double figures.

So who wins the Lakers again on the road?

You'll come home now for 2 it swing state and its second on Wayne's 8, 5, overall.

>> You know, 2 really good teams and both teams, you see those losses.

They're playing without 2 key players in the winds play without their point guard Ashli Bauer has been out for about 5, 6, games and some, you know, that's when they drop their games and saying as well play without Sarah as Iraqi play on probably a player, your candidate.

But yeah, they're they're different ways different than last year.

But I think they're they're more up tempo.

They're trying to put more pressure on you playing the full court.

So, yeah, it's it's going to be 2 more tough and sent home.

>> Absolutely.

Second, our valley on Saturday.

They're 7 in a 2, 3, in conference play when all about the rivalry there.

Grande Valley and Saginaw Valley.

But 14 1 overall 5 in Oh, ugly act play.

Great job.

Mike, as always and the good to talk to get.

All right, Steve, thank you.

We'll be right back.

As the Grand Valley State Sports report continues here in WGN.

TV's you men's basketball has won 6 of their last 7 games since with an 8, 7, record on the season.

Joining us now via zoom here on the Grand Valley State Sports report for the first time ever U.S. men's head basketball coach Cornell Mann.

Cornell, welcome and welcome to the show.

Welcome to Grand Valley.

It's great to have you here.

>> This is awesome to be here and thanks for having me on the show.

>> So we'll get into the details of how the years going.

Some some really nice things are developing for you.

But just your thoughts on your time here at Grand Valley.

What it's been like for you in the program as you set.

>> O well.

Well, first of all, I've known coach Wesley for a very long time.

Both he and I a was assistant coaches that I would stay that the a certain point in time of our career.

And he he did have something to do with Fred Hoiberg calling me to offer me a job.

And so for that, I appreciate that.

Just wanted to say that.

So people understand that.

I got a lot of respect for Coach Wesley and what he done here.

Graham Bell, and I just want build on what he'd done.

And and so being here is awesome.

And and and taking over for a guy like that that you can still call and meet with has been really, really awesome.

>> Was it said in the intro, you guys are starting to put winds together here and doing some great things.

What are you noticing?

Again, maybe a bit more general sense, but what are you noticing improving?

That's helping you to do that.

>> Where to start to do to start just to give you a little.

I mean, I'm sure, you know, but we had injuries to start season.

So that didn't help us.

But we've got a couple guys, but we will not get him on that.

But the thing that I'm noticing about our guys he is and we don't have a lot of experience on this team.

And so as we gain experience, we we gain momentum.

We have a great group of young men who are high character guys.

And the most important thing that most impressive thing so far as is guys getting better so progressed.

So you see we started out the season shooting for Lee from the free.

Throw my now.

We're somewhere above 75%.

From 3 per month.

We started not shooting well from 3 in part because our philosophy is if you if you're open and you're ready, shoe is up, they had to learn what that meant.

Exactly.

And so now are 3 point percentage is is either at 40 right under 40 and and they deserve the credit for that because what they learn is to take the right threes and be shot ready on the catch because every catches a possible shot opportunity.

And so the guys are ready and shot ready when he catches it should go up.

>> So some overall health and then learning execution at the foul line and learn what a good shot.

It switch.

Sounds easy enough but support for gold.

Is that that?

It sounds guys playing good ball.

You split the recent road trip, the of the first game there at Wisconsin Parkside a loss.

81 72.

So just maybe touch on that.

And then the nice when you had over a Purdue northwest that was on Saturday.

74 62.

>> Yeah.

So so so per site you want to.

And from me, someone is a learning process.

I've never coached that position to level.

And so I'm not used to for 7 days off what.

And and so in my estimation, we had those 7 days off and we were playing good ball prior to and we kind of forgot or lost our identity somehow do that 7 days.

And and so when we play Park site to me, we were not ourself.

We would not what what are what are called our teams as construction workers week.

Hard hit guys.

And so we didn't come out.

We came out as if we spend says the a little bit.

You know, I mean, we're we're assuming ourself a little bit and just kind of came out and play and that's just not who we are.

So we did not do it.

We didn't.

We didn't show up.

We did not show up in that game.

If you watch the game, you sell.

It looks like guys made arts.

Some guys may have played hard, but we did not play hard to get and and so in between games.

So the parts that game was a part of the game in between games.

We had a family meeting.

I come from a big family.

One of 10 siblings for one of 10 kids start at 9, 7, Those family meetings that we have in my family are the same as the family meeting we had with our GV as you family, those family means can get testy.

And and, you know, brutal honesty is what we serve at the meetings.

And so we had a meeting night before we played second second game at Purdue Northwest.

The meeting went very well.

The meeting was emotional, but when it allowed us to do is get back to who we work before before the break.

And that's what happened.

And as a matter of fact, I think that the northwest game probably was our best game this year as a team.

I thought we played really well.

I thought and everybody play Austin James, who did not play much before that night has shown improvement defensively.

Our program was a defense first program.

And so he's always been able to score and shoot the ball.

But you wouldn't see him unless he played defense.

And now he's playing.

He's playing defense, really see that those 2 games.

And so he deserved the minute you got me really showed up on the offensive and defensive end against Purdue Northwest.

But we really rally as a team and played as a team and nobody here who got the credit that night.

And we've got to continue to do that throughout.

>> Hidden 7, overall, 2, 3, in Clea Act play with home games this week.

Wayne State and the Saginaw Valley on the schedule.

Coach, great to talk with you again.

Welcome to Grand Valley.

Doing a great job here and we appreciate your time.

Thank you.

>> Thank you very much.

I look forward to the next year.

>> We'll be right back here.

The Grand Valley State Sports report as we continue on WGN, she beat you.

Women's basketball continues to be dominant.

This season, Tom Clear produced a feature for the Grand Valley Sports Network before Christmas break that highlight some key pieces of the team.

Let's take a look.

>> After its October when it's very state, the Grand Valley Football team ascended to a number one national ranking in the division 2 football polls.

But Mike Williams, women's basketball team started this season and and might well have the stuff to be there at the season's AM.

Lakers December game list will certainly test their mettle with several league game.

Sandwiched around a trip to New York and West Virginia.

>> We'll be good to play Sunday's games on the road and get battle tested.

We've only had 2 on the road.

That was Oprah down in St. Louis.

So we're looking forward to it and we'll see what happens though.

>> Randomly attacked the month of November with 5 straight non-conference wins in which an average nearly 82 points per game last year.

Much of the current group made it to the division 2 Final 4 before losing to explosive Glenville State team speed and full court intensity is something Emily Spitz Lee and her friends are now trying to emulate.

>> It's been a Memphis is this whole season so far.

And we think that we definitely made improvements in strides for that direction.

Obviously, always areas to improve.

And by the end of the day, we have our sights set on, you know, be a team that can be in a situation like that or team still kind of trying to find that identity was leaked last year.

We are definitely more of a defensive focus team in our kind of trying to more of a pace team.

And I think that we're still trying to be able to bring back defensive identity.

>> Poulos in Spitz Lee are Laker mainstays, who first step down.

The court is now in jail in 2018 and are now mentoring.

Young players like Nicole can mean Adrian Stay and Lexi puts a white that trio and other newcomers are learning this year that league titles and NCAA appearances are never guaranteed and that their time in college basketball will go by in the blink of an eye.

>> Yeah, I think that our underclassmen definitely learned that within like the first couple games, you know, especially going out to Maryville.

And I know that when shows every game's going to be a battle and every team, you know, sometimes we'll have bigger margins of victory.

It's not easy to get that.

We are last year's definitely special.

I've like Love Grande Valley.

This program, the game of basketball.

So there's no senior.

It is here to stay for the rest of my life.

I love it.

>> As impressive as grand at least November start has been Williams and his players are hoping their season will get even better after the first of the year with the expected return of Rylie Bisballe from offseason knee surgery.

>> She can guard on the perimeter.

Shikhar don't Lowell.

She can step outside.

Go by somebody shoot the 3 Bs you can post up in.

You know, she just probably our most versatile player with his ball.

Still a few weeks away.

>> Grande Valley's leading and some poor backward standout led Osteen family Miller along with Aubrey Cabana.

I played 24 games are true.

Freshman season last year if the injury list continues to shrink and the depth and competence continue to grow, the high national ranking the Lakers began with could have a chance to stay intact.

Come this spring.

The Grand Valley State sports report.

I'm Tom Cleary.

>> And we keep making progress.

We can get back on top.

If we keep learning and figuring out we can get back on top and that's not the end.

All be all the most important thing every day.

But it's fun.

Leaving this me being on top, right?

But the most important thing you guys are awesome human beings.

So that's probably the most important thing to me is what you give to the program and each other.

So winning is important, but being a good person beats every front.

So I appreciate everyone being who you are and trust and believe in being part of this.

So.

>> The Grand Valley State Lakers conclude the 2022 cross country season at the NCAA Division.

2 national championships in Seattle, Washington claiming a second place finish for the women and a 4th place finish for the Met.

The Laker women wins their 7th Division.

2 national runner-up finish with a team score of 126 points of the day.

Well, American cloudy O'Malley led the way with 3rd place finish followed by Lauren.

Kylie Cross the finish line.

>> Yeah, we're pretty sound up and down.

You know, great performance.

Runner-up Wise for Ladies.

You know, I competed well.

I'm just really proud of our women in and how much they've competed and fought throughout the year.

Spectacular performance by Claudia again, following a runner-up finish last year, finished 3rd, just really, really strong.

And Lauren Kylie, a true freshman to step out there and get 7.

I'm just really, really impressive.

So we're real pleased with that.

You know, Natalie was in the mix after 5 came Cetera, flask 1000 meters.

You know, it's similar to Tanner.

Now someone that gives everything to our program self to really proud of everything she does for our program and her teammates over time.

So but now we're really pleased the overall and a runner-up finish second.

The countries a lot to be proud of.

>> I think the race when hot, which I expected.

So I just kind of try to keep my composure, keep my other 2 teammates and my side of vision and just kind of just like get out strong but not to over my head.

So they are set off unlike 30th place.

And then after we hit that first curve and I think was the first 600 on my okay.

Now, I can start moving kind of settled in a little bit.

And then after that, I just kind of just kept.

I'll let you make insight and just kept moving up because the PAC behind you was moving as well.

So I kind of got the meme momentum and just kept going up.

It means everything.

We've gotten second place, 3 years in a row.

So we're proud of second place.

I mean, we're not just put it all looks like a play second place like this.

Could any team won second place?

I love this team.

This team is the reason why I came here like we work hard to with each other and out every day we do workouts together and honestly, the team is see what got into the race to like.

They're the reason why I'm as good as I am right today.

So, yeah, I love this team that.

>> We asked, you know, last year she sort of was in the shadow of Hannah, you know, off-season, Natalie, sort of let us in.

She does serve a sort of sat back and let not setback.

But the alert and see someone that always shows up at the big races, though, if you look at her career, she's always been really, really good on in CA Championship Day.

So, you know, when she came through a couple weeks ago at the region with the win, you know it we we knew she was starting to round into shape in turn a corner.

So just a competitor and that, you know, the type of person you want towing the line in your uniform in the big races.

>> On the men's side, Tanner Chad led the Lakers to a top 4 finish for the second consecutive national runner-up finish.

The Lakers finished with 3 runners in the top 40.

Also to Kayla fodder.

12th and Brock Waterson and 34.

>> Certainly, you know, you want to get on the podium, bring home some hardware, bring a trophy home.

But, yeah, you know, I would you have high expectations.

And and you know, both from >> coaching standpoint, your student athletes, you know, we still have some great performances, a can or chat to finish.

And a runner-up for the second hero ran a spectacular racing is just through throughout the whole way.

And Caleb Carter was just outstanding.

You know, this 14 to really, really impressive.

So real pleased with that race and very proud of our student athletes and what they've the work in and a commitment they put in over the course of the season.

The still get on the podium.

>> Yeah, I mean, you know, it's a beautiful day to, you know, you know, 5 candidates come out here and run nationals.

It's always, you know, we we sit there and our vans and beforehand where of a shake and you feel like you can stuff, but then you're going to race.

You realize that that's that's what you live for.

That's the that's the race that the moments that you love and just cherish so much and train so hard for so very thankful to be able to come out here today and put it best after that.

We got out there.

Yes, he means everything to me and says it's amazing to have, you know, Kobe and proper person brought to, you know, I have an amazing race being all American for the first time as a freshman.

And we've come a long way know we've gone through a lot this season.

We've really had a lot a lot of points for leave, you know, had to get through a lot of bad things, injuries.

We'll pull hamstrings, Achilles everything.

So I'm just so proud that our team is here and we talked early in the season about being a team that deserves to win.

Can't control winning.

Talk about the in thing that just deserved a been able to share them with the guys on the ground afterwards.

That's that's that's what it's about.

You know, not place in the trophies.

So.

>> Yeah, just a 10 is just a great leader.

Great teammate, great competitor.

He's just a great human being.

Yeah, well, you know, we're going to miss him on the course.

What you miss him, you know, as a as a leader and your team and just being there as a friend to everyone on the team.

So good thing is we've got an indoor and outdoor season with them and he's done so much for our program over the years.

Yeah, just outstanding human being.

I think that's when it's all said and done.

You want to have great results in and have success racing wise.

But you know, you want to leave here.

They needed it the right way.

Tanner's down and direct way.

>> TV's you his transition to the 2023 indoor track and field season next meal will be on Saturday, January 14, Kelly Family Sports Center as they host the 5 Eubanks Open in Allendale.

>> Well, that's all the time that we have this week here in the Grand Valley State Sports report.

Laker basketball teams will host a pair of games at home this weekend on Thursday.

The welcome Wayne State of the TV Issue.

Fieldhouse Arena.

Women's team will tip off at 06:00PM, followed by the men's team at 08:00PM about host Saginaw Valley State on Saturday, January 14th, the women are slated to start at one, then followed by the man at 03:00PM.

In Allendale Laker, men's and women's swimming and diving will head the eastern Michigan on Friday, January 13th they'll take on their division.

One opponent at 05:00PM GSU indoor track and field teams will host the Bob Eubanks Open on Saturday, January 14th at the Kelly Family Sports Center.

It is scheduled to begin at 02:00PM for upcoming games as well as live broadcast of every Laker athletic program.

Visit GV issue Lakers dot com.

>> For more of the show head over to our YouTube channel at YouTube Dot com Slash Wgu.

35 make sure you hit the subscribe button to get the updated videos and highlights all year long.

The entire crew here Wgu I'm Steve Lloyd-Jones have a great week Laker Nation and as always a corrupt