The Grand Valley State women’s basketball team poses with its NCAA Division II national championship hardware in Pittsburgh on Saturday. The team includes 2021 Escanaba High School graduate Nicole Kamin, along with head coach Mike Williams, who was a boys and girls head coach at Hancock and Ironwood and an assistant coach for the Michigan Tech women. (Photo courtesy Grand Valley State University)

PITTSBURGH (AP) — Paige Vanstee totaled 25 points and nine rebounds to help Grand Valley State beat Indiana (Pennsylvania) 72-49 on Saturday and win a second straight NCAA Division II Championship in women’s basketball.

Grand Valley, the top seed, finished 36-1 in snagging its third overall championship in three trips to the final. The Lakers also lost just one game last season — by two points — on its way to the title under Mike Williams. Its only loss this season under Williams was a 78-77 defeat at the hands of Wayne State in early February. Williams has won two straight NCAA Division II Coach of the Year awards from the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association.

Vanstee made 9 of 11 shots with two 3-pointers and 5 of 7 free throws for the Lakers. She added three steals and three blocks. Nicole Kamin and MacKenzie Bisballe both scored 18. Kamin added five rebounds and four assists, while Bisballe grabbed seven boards and blocked five shots.

Kamin is a 2021 graduate of Escanaba High School, while Williams is a past head coach of boys and girls teams at Hancock and Ironwood high schools, along with an assistant women’s coach at Michigan Tech and head coach at the now-closed Finlandia University.

Teresa Maggio scored 20 to lead the second-seeded Crimson Hawks (31-4), who advanced — under the guidance of coach Craig Carey — to the championship game for the first time in program history.

Bisballe and Kamin both had two baskets as the Lakers jumped out to a 10-2 lead in the first 4:22 and never looked back. They led 17-8 after one quarter, 41-24 at halftime and 58-35 heading to the final period.

Grand Valley State shot 62.2% overall, including 38.5% from 3-point range. Indiana shot 31.1% and missed 10 of 12 from beyond the arc.

Grand Valley State beat American International 58-52 to win the 2006 championship under coach Dawn Plitzuweit, a former MTU player and current coach at the University of Minnesota.

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