May 22, 2006

Allendale, Mich. - Grand Valley State fourth-year head coach Dawn Plitzuweit has been honored by the Basketball Coaches Association of Michigan as the Women's College Coach of the Year. Plitzuweit guided the Lakers to the 2005-06 NCAA DII National Championship in Hot Springs, Arkansas. GVSU captured the GLIAC regular-season and tournament titles, along with the NCAA DII Great Lakes Regional crown en route to the school's first-ever women's basketball National Championship.

The Lakers finished with the year with a single-season, school-record 33 wins, including a school-record 22-game winning streak to end the year. Plitzuweit is 96-31 in her four-year career with two GLIAC and NCAA DII Great Lakes Regional crowns. The 96 wins in four years is the best consecutive four-year win total in GVSU annals. Plitzuweit was named the 2005 Russell Athletic/WBCA DII National Coach of the Year.