Grand Valley State claimed a 66-55 GLIAC road win Thursday (Dec. 4) night at Ashland University. GVSU improves to 4-0 overall and 1-0 in GLIAC action, while Ashland falls to 2-3 and 0-1. The Lakers will continue this GLIAC road trip with a 1 pm game Saturday (Dec. 6) at Tiffin. Tipoff is set for 1 p.m.
 

GVSU junior guard Bionna Barnett put the Lakers on the board first with a jumper at the 18:46 mark of the first half and after Kayla Dawson scored on a layup at the 18:07 mark neither team could get anything down until Ashland tied it up at 4-4 at the 15:51 mark. GVSU trailed just twice in the opening stanza, the last time by a 9-8 margin with 13:26 left in the first half. Senior guard Kat Laprairie hit her first three of the game to give GVSU an 11-9 lead at the 13:15 mark. Neither team was able to get into an offensive flow through the middle portion of the first half. GVSU trailed 19-16 until sophomore guard Kayla Dawson hit a 3-pointer to tie the game at 19 with 5:42 left in the opening 20 minutes. Dawson drilled another 3-pointer, followed by a 3-pointer from sophomore forward Piper Tucker to give GVSU a 25-19 lead with 3:43 left. Barnett hit a jumper and Dawson added a pair of free throws to give GVSU a 29-27 lead at the half.
 

The Lakers and Eagles traded buckets through the opening nine minutes of the second half as neither team led by more than two points with four ties. GVSU led 37-36 when Barnett scored in the paint to up the lead to  39-36  at the 11:43 mark, but Ashland answered with a layup of its own to pull within one (39-38). Taylor Lutz hit a pair of free throws to give GVSU a 41-38 lead. 
 

Leading 41-40 with 9:27 left in the game, GVSU went on a 10-0 scoring run to pull away. Dawson hit a free throw and followed with a 3-pointer. Barnett and senior guard Meryl Cripe both hit jumpers and Dawson closed the run with a layup at the 6:25 mark. Ashland hit a 3-pointer to pull within five with 3:20 left, but Barnett came up with a steal with hit a jumper following an offensive rebound by Lutz. Ashland answered quickly, but Tucker scored on a layup with 1:51 left to up the Laker lead to seven (60-53). Barnett added two free throws following an Ashland turnover and sealed the game with another jumper at the :50 second mark to give GVSU a 64-53 lead. 
 

Barnett led the way with 19 points, while Dawson added 17 in the scoring columns. Dawson was 3-for-3 from three-point land and added a team-high six rebounds and three assists. LaPrairie and Tucker each chipped in seven points. 
 

GVSU outscored the Eagles 9-2 in points off turnovers and the Laker bench held a 7-0 advantage in points. The Lakers forced Ashland into 22 turnovers.