ALLENDALE - On March 28th the Grand Valley State Lakers beat Cal State Dominguez Hills to win the women’s Division II National Championship. A trio of Northern Michigan natives helped lead them to glory, Lake City’s sister duo of Rylie and MacKenzie Bisballe and Cadillac’s Molly Anderson.
Rylie led the team in points and rebounds, while MacKenzie was 2nd on the team in points and led the team in blocks, Anderson was 4th on the team in assists and started all but one game. The three of them have gotten close in their time with the Lakers, even carpooling when they return home.
The three of them shared the moment in the game that it had set in they’d be national champions.
“Honestly, for me, I skip to pass to Mackenzie in a corner and she made a three and I was like, okay, we got this,” said Rylie Bisballe.
“We were going strong, had a little bit of a not let down, but a little bit of a period in the third quarter where we kind of were going slow. But we picked it back up and we’re just like working so well as a team. So, I think that’s kind of what I knew,” said MacKenzie Bisballe.
“When it really sunk in, I think there was like there’s probably like 6 minutes, 5 minutes left in the fourth quarter, and you could just see all the grins on my teammates faces. You could it was like a 12, 14-point lead. We’re thinking, I don’t think they’re coming back from that, so probably around then,” said Molly Anderson.
MacKenzie Bisballe, will we return for her sophomore season, and Molly Anderson will return for her senior year, Rylie Bisballe, a senior, will graduate and try to become a CPA.