at Ferris State (6:00 p.m.): Listen | Live Stats | Game Notes

ALLENDALE,Mich.—The Grand Valley State women's basketball team, winners of five of their last six games, will travel to Big Rapids on Monday for a rivalry game with Ferris State University. The matchup between the two, the first of this season, finds the two squads at different ends of the spectrum. Grand Valley is 15-5 overall, and stands just one game out of the North Division lead with Michigan Tech at 10-4 in the GLIAC.
 
The Bulldogs, however, find themselves just one game out of last place in the North Division, with a 4-16 overall record, and just a 4-10 GLIAC record.  After losing seven straight GLIAC games, the Bulldogs got a 57-55 win versus Saginaw Valley on Saturday, snapping the seven game skid.
 
There are links above to listen to the radio broadcast of the game or to follow along with the live stats. Monday's game will be aired on WTKG-AM 1230, with fifth year play-by-play announcer DJ Foster calling the action.
 
Monday night's matchup will feature two vastly different offenses. Grand Valley currently ranks second in the GLIAC in scoring per game, averaging 73.9 points per game. The Lakers rank third in the nation in Division II with 9.7 made three pointers per game, and shoot 37.7 percent beyond the arc, the 2^nd best mark in the conference. Ferris State comes into the contest averaging 55.8 points per game, 14^th in the conference, with a .388/.256/.681 (FG/3-Pt/FT) shooting line.
 
Whereas Grand Valley has thrived on the three-ball, hitting a conference best 196 triples, Ferris has both shot (289) and made (74) the least amount of three point shots in the conference.
 
History between the two teams has gone in the favor of the Lakers, as they own the 62-28 edge in all time matchups between the two teams, including 69-59 and 104-73 victories for the Lakers in the two matchups last season. The most recent trip for the Lakers to Big Rapids was last February's 104-73 victory in the last regular season game for the Lakers. In that game, five Lakers scored in double figures, led by Kayla Dawson's 19 points.
 
This season, the Lakers have made a name for themselves with strong defensive efforts. A large reason for the Lakers success has been their consistent ability to score 60 or more points in every game this season, while simultaneously holding twelve opponents below that mark in games. Grand Valley is tenth in Division II in scoring defense, allowing just 54.8 points per game this season. Opponents are making just 37 percent of their shots from the field this season, and shooting just 27 percent from beyond the arc, which is the second lowest mark in the conference.
 
GVSU comes into the matchup having regained some lost momentum. Thursday's matchup between two upper echelon North Division foes, GVSU and SVSU, did not go the way the Lakers would have liked, and their five game winning streak was snapped. Though neither team shot very well from the field, it was the Lakers that faltered down the stretch, committing 19 turnovers in the game and missing 12 fourth quarter shots. Grand Valley rebounded from the defeat with a strong victory over Hillsdale on Saturday, racing past the Chargers with a big second quarter and opening up a 25 point lead in the third quarter, before coasting to a comfortable 63-42 victory.
 
An area where the Lakers will need to show improvement in is turnovers, as they committed more than both of last week's opponents, and were just narrowly edged in turnovers by Northwood (16-15) a week before. A return to form is in order for Grand Valley, as they retain the top mark in the GLIAC in turnovers per game on offense (12.8), and rival Ferris turns the ball over the most of any team in the conference, averaging 22.3 turnovers per contest. As the opportunistic Lakers force turnovers on defense, they can better turn those into points, as they have excelled at doing so far this season.
 
An important two way player for the Lakers is Kayla Dawson, whose team leading 43 steals shows the product of first year coach Mike William's defensive focus. Dawson is also dangerous on offense, leading GVSU with 16.0 points per game and 5.1 rebounds per contest. A threat to score any way she wants to, Dawson is rocketing towards joining the 1,000 point club as a Laker, and stands just 88 points shy of that mark with eight regular season games left.
 
Monday's game is scheduled for a 6 p.m. tip-off in Jim Wink Arena in Big Rapids, Michigan.