Allendale, Mich. -- It was a tale of two halves for the Grand Valley State women's basketball team on Sunday (Dec. 14) afternoon. The No. 24 Lakers made just eight field goals in the opening 20 minutes, but drained 12 of their 28 attempts, including seven of their 14 three-point shots, in the second half, eventually emerging with a 69-61 victory over Tiffin.

GVSU is now off to a 6-0 start and has won its first three GLIAC contests for the first time since the 2010-11 campaign.

While the Lakers shot just 35.1 percent from the field, they took care of the basketball, committing a season-low six turnovers. At the other end of the floor, their defense forced the Dragons into 23 turnovers, racking up a season-high 15 steals. The Lakers turned those miscues into 20 points, helping them overcome a lopsided rebounding margin (50-25 in favor of Tiffin) and the Dragons' 17 offensive boards.

Sophomore forward Kayla Dawson poured in a game-high 19 points on 4-of-7 shooting to match her highest output of the season. The reigning GLIAC North Player of the Week made all 10 of her free throw attempts, which are the most by any Laker this year. Dawson also collected four rebounds, two steals and one assist.

Two other players reached double figures: Kat LaPrairie and Brionna Barnett. The former made four of her eight shots from three-point range in the second half, totaling 14 points. The latter end of the duo sank three triples en route to a 16-point, three-assist outing.

Freshman forward Korynn Hincka only came away with four rebounds and four points, but her five steals, a career high, and post presence were a major reason for GVSU's success at the defensive end.

Shooting woes early put the Lakers in a seven-point hole, its largest deficit of the season. Then Barnett and Dawson went to work. Dawson sank a pair of freebies, while Barnett followed up with a trifecta and free throw to pull them within a point. Tiffin answered with a layup, which Barnett negated with another three. Dawson added two more freebies and Hincka knocked down a jumper in the paint to give GVSU its first lead (15-13) at the 9:00 mark.

Tiffin would take the lead again with 1:47 remaining in the first half, but Dawson got the charity stripe, floating in two more baskets to send the Lakers into halftime with a 26-25 edge.

Both teams went back and forth in the early goings of the second stanza before GVSU seized the lead for good. A triple from LaPrairie erased a three-point deficit and Dawson sank her only attempt from distance just 29 seconds later to put the Lakers in front one last time with 13:58 left in the game.

Down by as many as eight points, the Dragons would not go away. They managed to trim GVSU's advantage to three points with a little over five minutes to play. Dawson and LaPrairie came up big again, though. The two combined for seven points in a three-minute stretch, with the latter's trifecta delivering the final dagger and giving the Lakers a 63-53 lead with only 2:13 remaining.

The Lakers will play their final home game of 2014 on Tuesday (Dec. 16) against Ohio Dominican. Tip off at the GVSU Fieldhouse Arena is scheduled for 6 p.m.

Notes:
-GVSU improved to 10-0 all time against Tiffin
-The Lakers have made at least 10 threes in all four of its home games this season
-GVSU is now 4-0 this season when it shoots less than 45 percent from the field
-As a team, the Lakers were 19 for 20 (95.0%) from the charity stripe, making it their best performance from the free throw line this season
-GVSU's 15 steals were its highest single-game total since it nabbed 16 steals against Ohio Dominican on Dec. 8, 2012
-The Lakers have led at halftime in all six of its games this season