Bulldog women’s basketball returned to the win column with a 49-point blowout over their GLIAC rival Lake Superior State University at Jim Wink Arena on Saturday, Jan. 6.
The Bulldogs’ (8-2, 2-1 in GLIAC) 109-60 victory over the Lakers (1-11, 0-3 in GLIAC) marks a season-high for points scored alongside it being their largest margin of victory since their 59-point victory over Grace Christian on Nov. 26, 2022.
Head coach Kurt Westendorp believed that the team played hard from the start and was able to control the Lakers’ pace with how the Bulldogs played.
“They played with a ton of energy right from the tipoff and on both ends of the court,” Westendorp said. “I felt like we ran the floor really well. When we got those stops, we were able to turn it into some of those transition opportunities. For our ball pressure, [it] was one of the best games we had all year long. I think we forced 22 turnovers. We did a pretty good job of making them feel a little bit out of sorts. We tried to speed them up and make them play a little faster than they wanted to play. It all kinda clicked together for us today.”
Senior forward DeShonna Day and sophomore center Mya Hiram contributed to the turnovers by leading the Bulldogs in steals with three each.
The Bulldogs put up at least 24 points in every quarter while holding the Lakers to under 17 points in each quarter. Seven different Bulldogs registered double-digit points in the win. Day and senior forward Chloe Idoni registered 11 points each while Hiram led the team in scoring with 13 points off the bench.
With such a large margin of victory, the game allowed for every single Bulldog to get playing time while also allowing all 13 Bulldogs to register two or more points. Westendorp knew how important it was for everyone to get more playing time while understanding what it meant for the players.
“It’s really important to get that game flow action,” Westendorp said. “Everyone gets opportunities every day in practice to go against each other to make each other better. There’s a little bit of added importance when you actually have the chance to do it in front of people. It’s great for some of those kids to see the ball go into the basket and have a little bit more confidence in it.”
The game against Lake Superior State starts an uninterrupted streak of games against GLIAC opponents that will run until the end of the season. The Bulldogs will go on the road to play the Michigan Tech Huskies on Thursday, Jan. 11 before facing the Northern Michigan Wildcats on Sat. Jan. 13.