PITTSBURGH, Penn. — It is well-known Michigan and Michigan State are both still alive in the NCAA Tournament, but another basketball team from Michigan is set to play for a national championship on Friday.
Grand Valley State University women's basketball team will take the court in Pittsburgh on March 28 with a shot to claim the Division II trophy. The Lakers are the number 1 seed in the postseason after a 29-2 regular season record.
The Lakers haven't lost since a 2-point defeat to the University of Wisconsin-Parkside on February 15. It was the only conference loss for Grand Valley.
GVSU claimed the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) regular season crown as well as winning the conference tournament.
Including the postseason, the Lakers are 37-2 on the season.
Grand Valley's success has been driven by a number of great players.
Senior Rylie Bisballe was named a Coaches Division II All-American by the Women's Basketball Coaches' Association. The forward from Lake City was also named the 2025 D2CCA Midwest Region Player of the Year, GLIAC Palyer of the Year, and GLIAC Defensive Player of the Year. She led the team in scoring and rebounding, averaging 13.7 points per game and 5.6 rebounds per game. Bisballe currently has 1665 points in her career, which is top-5 in GVSU team history.
MacKenzie Bisballe, younger sister of Rylie, was named the GLIAC Freshman of the Year and part of the conference's All-Defense team. The Freshman led the GLIAC with 47 blocks.
Abrie Cabana and Nicole Kamin were both selected to the GLIAC All-Conference first team.
Cabana was a downtown shooting threat, leading the conference in three-point percentage at 43.1%.
Kamin was a sticky part of the Lakers' defense, with 76 steals in 2024-2025. She also chipped in 72 assists. Kamin was also named to the All-Defense team.
Ellie Droste earned a spot on the ALL-GLIAC second team, providing a balance of scoring and defense from the bench.
Head Coach Mike Williams was also named the National Coach of the Year by the Women's Basketball Coaches' Association. He was also named GLIAC Coach of the Year.
To get to the national championship game Grand Valley dominated the regional round hosted at the GVSU Fieldhouse Arena in Allendale. The Elite Eight round saw the Lakers defense put a choke hold on 19-seed Gannon University. A close, 7-point win over Pittsburg State in the Final Four round sent GVSU to the national championship.
Grand Valley will play Cal-State Dominguez Hills in the Division II Women's National Championship game on Friday at 7:00 p.m. The game will be telecast on ESPN+.
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