After her team had been deliberately attempting to get her open shots late in the fourth quarter of a blowout win, Grand Valley State junior forward Kayla Dawson finally had her chance.

Dawson drew a shooting foul, and, with two makes from the free throw line, she reached 1,000 career points as a Laker. The first one snapped the bottom of the net in a dead-silent Fieldhouse Arena, and the second one rimmed out—but rimmed back in to put her into the 1,000-club.

The junior forward helped lead the Lakers (18-7, 13-6 GLIAC) to a 77-42 win over Lake Superior State (5-20, 4-15 GLIAC) at home on Feb. 11. GVSU traveled to Northwood (15-10, 11-8 GLIAC) a few days later, and succumbed to the Timberwolves 84-74.

“It’s good for her,” said GVSU coach Mike Williams. “It’s funny because, this game we kept running stuff for her to get her 1,000 points, and a couple times she saw kids wide open and she wanted to move it, but we’re like, ‘score the ball!’”

Dawson led the Lakers with 26 points, five steals and four rebounds in what was a historic night for the team’s leading scorer.

“It’s great,” Dawson said. “It’s a great accomplishment and I’m just proud to be a part of this program.”

After a 12-2 run that was sparked by two Lindsay Baker 3-pointers and six LSSU turnovers in the first quarter, the Lakers built a 20-9 lead heading into the second quarter.

Any chances of a LSSU comeback were shot down in the second quarter, and the Lakers owned a 42-17 lead at the half. The Lakers held LSSU to single-digit team point totals in every quarter except the third, and shot 57.7 percent from the field as a unit.

“Our toughness was really good, and that got us through the game,” Dawson said.

GVSU guard Janae Langs logged her sixth start in a row, as she continues to fill in for injured starter Brionna Barnett. Langs put up another respectable performance with 11 points on 5-of-8 shooting, five rebounds and three steals.

“She’s starting to figure out now she needs to take a few more shots,” Williams said. “Brionna was such a great offensive player, and one person can’t pick that up. We’ve picked it up by committee.”

The Lakers ended the week on a sour note, however, and gave up 84 points to a Northwood team that they held to just 47 points a few weeks earlier.

The Timberwolves shot 54.8 percent from the field, and were led by Lauren Roback with 26 points, and Jordyn Nurenberg with 20 points. The Lakers had four players in double figures, including a 24-point output from forward Taylor Parmley, but couldn’t keep up with the Northwood offense.

The loss drops the Lakers’ road record to 6-6, an area of weakness that has snake-bitten the Lakers the past two years.

“We just have to figure out a way to get one on the road,” Williams said. “We didn’t really match their energy. (Northwood) came out to play and we couldn’t match it.”

The Lakers will host rival Saginaw Valley State in part two of the Battle of the Valleys on Feb. 18, and travel to Hillsdale on Feb. 20 to try to capture an elusive road win.

The Lakers will close the season at home against Ferris State the following week on Feb. 25, in what is shaping up to be an interesting finish to GLIAC play.