Her teammates got Kayla McDowell good as she entered the locker room following Mason’s 54-41 girls basketball win over Lakota West on Saturday.

Silly String thickly covered almost all of her head and neck. So much so that she could hardly see the other six seniors on the team to give them a hug.

The cause for celebration was the 1,000th career point for the 6-foot-3 senior center who will play her college basketball at Missouri.

McDowell had 19 points and nine rebounds to help the Comets, ranked No. 3 in the Division I state poll, improve to 14-0 and a leading 9-0 in the Greater Miami Conference. West, 10-3 (8-3 in GMC), was No. 13 in the state. Rachel Tomasic was its leading scorer with 12 points.

This appeared to be Mason’s first tough test. But the Comets’ smothering defense forced 24 turnovers resulting in 23 points. They are now allowing opponents 29.9 points per game

McDowell entered needing six point to go over a grand. Such a feat seemed a foregone conclusion considering how much of the offense revolves around her. However, she struggled the first half with only five points, including an uncharacteristic 3 of 8 from the free-throw line. As a team, Mason struggled at the line, hitting 9 of 22 for the game.

“I was nervous and just wanted to get it out of the way,” McDowell said of her milestone. “I was really pressing. You could tell that from my free-throw shooting. Plus West was giving us some problems with the matchup zone they were playing.”

McDowell got her 1,000th point with 7:06 to go on an offensive rebound. That started a 16-6 run that put Mason in control.

“To get 1,000 points in a program like ours, which really stresses defense, is really hard to do,” said McDowell. “That’s what makes it so special. It’s a nice milestone, but I’m glad it’s done so I can concentrate more on team play.”

Mason coach Rob Matula got his Silly String covering two weeks ago when he got his 200th career win.

“The girls got her better than me,” said Matula. “They know that the way we stress defense, getting 1,000 points doesn’t happen too often for us. But for her to pass 1,000 today and have our defense be the reason we won the game makes it an even more special day.”