When the 2016-17 Shippensburg University women’s basketball team opened its season on Nov. 12, senior guard Lauren Gold was just 26 points away from reaching a remarkable milestone — 1,000 career points.

Gold gave it everything she had to pull it off on opening night against the University of Virginia at Wise (UVA Wise), scoring 20 points on 6-of-12 shooting from the field and 6-of-6 shooting at the free-throw line, while grabbing six steals and an assist. She fell just short of the mark, but it did not take long for her to reach the mark.

In fact, Gold set the record with a 3-pointer with 6:20 remaining in the second quarter the next day against Bowie State University in the Wolf’s Bus Line Classic.

However, things were not always easy for Gold, who tore both of her ACLs in high school playing basketball.

“It means a lot to me,” Gold said. “It shows just how much adversity I’ve gone through to keep playing after tearing both of my ACLs, that I can achieve scoring my 1,000th point as a senior in college.”

Gold was well aware of how many points she needed to reach the milestone, and when she knocked down the 3-pointer from the left corner, she knew she had accomplished history.

“I knew coming into the weekend how many points I needed, and when I hit that 3-pointer I knew that I scored my 1,000th career point,” Gold said.

For Gold, reaching the 1,000-point plateau was made much easier with her success at the free-throw line. In her career, Gold holds a free-throw percentage of 89.2. Gold also has two seasons in which she has shot 90 percent from the line, and is one of the best free-throw shooters in Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) history.

“I’ve always practiced free-throws with my dad,” Gold said. “Being a good free-throw shooter means a lot because they are free points, so whenever you can get to the line and make free-throws, there is nothing wrong with that.”

In Gold’s career, 462 of her 1,130 career points have come at the line. Gold had a spectacular game against Kutztown University Dec. 30, where she scored a season-high 25 points, including 5-of-9 shooting from 3-point range.

Upon reaching the 1,000-point mark, Gold became just the 21st player in SU women’s basketball history to score 1,000 career points. Gold joined teammates Stephanie Knauer and Morgan Griffith who have already reached the 1000-point plateau, while senior guard Logan Snyder sits just 20 points away from becoming the next member of the 1,000-point club.

“It means a lot, having Steph Knauer and Morgan Griffith score their 1,000th point last year and me joining them means a lot with me being a senior and joining them,” Gold said. “Being a part of the small group of women who have done that has been incredible.”

The Raiders, 8–5 and 3–4 in the PSAC, will host Bloomsburg University on Friday, Jan. 6. Tipoff is scheduled for 6:00 p.m.

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