CHICAGO – A fourth-quarter push was enough to lift Lake Superior State past Roosevelt 54-52 on Thursday evening in Roosevelt's Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference opener at the Goodman Center.

The host Lakers (2-4, 0-1 GLIAC) were in cruise control in the first three quarters while building a lead that grew to as many as 13 points. Roosevelt put together a team effort in the first quarter to overcome a slow offensive start, but the Lakers defense was swarming from tipoff. Lake Superior State shot just 3 of 18 from the field in the first quarter, falling behind by nine on a 3-pointer from Jalyssa Carrasco.

Luka Malinka started to heat up in the second quarter with nine points, all of which came in a two-minute span in the middle of the period. Her final four points sparked the 8-0 run that pushed the Roosevelt edge up to 13 points before a late 3-pointer cut the lead to 10 at halftime.

Roosevelt didn't really let the visitors breathe in the third quarter either, keeping a healthy advantage over Lake Superior State. Malinka added nine more points while Jayla Turchin scored four and grabbed seven rebounds to help keep a double-digit lead through 30 minutes.

Unfortunately for the home team, the tidal wave came from the visiting Lakers in the fourth quarter. Lake Superior State made seven of its 13 shots, but more importantly sank 4 of 7 from behind the arc after draining just five in the first three quarters. The visitors opened the fourth quarter on a 13-3 run to tie the game, but didn't take its first lead until 2:29 remained in the contest.

Malinka was held scoreless in the fourth quarter and finished with 20 points while Turchin scratched double figures with a jump shot with 1:26 left that gave Roosevelt a slim 52-51 lead. Lake Superior State immediately responded with a 3-pointer 20 seconds later to finish the scoring. Turchin ended the game with her 14^th career double-double in a Roosevelt uniform after chipping in 11 points and a career-best 16 rebounds.

Talya Tillman had four first-half assists while Makiah Hawk blocked two shots in the first quarter before finding herself in foul trouble. Marie Outlay had eight points to go along with her two steals and two blocks and Carrasco led the team with five assists.

UP NEXT: The going doesn't get any easier for the Lakers on Saturday when they welcome in No. 23 Ferris State for a 1 p.m. tipoff at the Goodman Center.