DES MOINES, IOWA – The Grand View women's basketball team defeated Mount Mercy 72-53 on Saturday afternoon, using a strong shooting performance to improve to 14-7 overall and 11-2 in conference play. 

Grand View jumped out to an early lead in the first quarter. Claire Galbraith scored to give the Vikings a 2-0 advantage, and Ellie Knock hit a three-pointer assisted by Amaya Davison to make it 5-4. Eva Solseth knocked down a three-pointer assisted by Anna Gossling to extend the lead to 8-4, and Davison added a layup assisted by Gossling to push it to 10-4. Mount Mercy cut the deficit to 10-6, but Taryn Ottemann hit a three-pointer assisted by Eva Peterson to give Grand View a 15-11 lead. Gossling added a three-pointer to make it 18-15 at the end of the first quarter. 

The second quarter saw Grand View extend their advantage. Davison scored assisted by Gossling to push the lead to 20-15, and Solseth hit a three-pointer assisted by Galbraith to make it 23-15. Solseth added another three-pointer assisted by Gossling to extend it to 26-15. Davison hit a free throw to push the lead to 27-16, and knocked down a three-pointer assisted by Solseth to make it 30-18. Davison added two more free throws to give the Vikings a 32-18 advantage. Davison scored again to extend the lead to 34-19, and Solseth added a layup to give Grand View a 38-23 halftime lead. 

Grand View continued to dominate in the third quarter. Galbraith hit a three-pointer assisted by Knock to push the lead to 41-23, and Gossling added a three-pointer to extend it to 44-23. Gossling scored again to make it 46-26, and Knock added a layup assisted by Gossling to push the advantage to 48-26. Gossling hit another three-pointer assisted by Davison to give Grand View a 51-31 lead. Davison converted two free throws to make it 53-33, and Knock scored to extend the lead to 55-33. Galbraith knocked down a three-pointer assisted by Ottemann to give the Vikings a commanding 58-35 advantage heading into the fourth quarter. 

In the final period, Solseth scored to make it 60-36, and Davison added a layup to push the lead to 62-36. Hannah Hartley scored assisted by Solseth to extend it to 66-40, and Abigail Jones hit a three-pointer assisted by Lily Smith to give Grand View their largest lead at 70-43. Galbraith added a layup to make it 72-46 as the Vikings cruised to the 72-53 victory. 

GAME NOTES:  

• Amaya Davison led Grand View with 20 points on 7 of 12 shooting, going 5-of-7 from the free-throw line, and added 4 rebounds.  

• Anna Gossling contributed 11 points, going 3-of-6 from three-point range, and grabbed 3 rebounds with 5 assists.  

• Eva Solseth added 13 points on 5 of 8 shooting, hitting 3-of-4 three-pointers, and pulled down 5 rebounds.  

• Claire Galbraith chipped in 11 points and 3 rebounds.  

• Ellie Knock contributed 7 points, 3 rebounds, and 2 blocks.  

• Grand View shot 43.5% from the field and an impressive 50.0% from three-point range.  

• The Vikings were outrebounded Mount Mercy 25-35, but dominated from beyond the arc.  

• Grand View improves to 14-7 overall and 11-2 in conference play with the home victory. 

WHATS NEXT? 

The Vikings look to improve their record on Wednesday, January 28th as they take on the Pride of Clarke University.