Ferris State women’s basketball completed an Upper Peninsula sweep with victories over the Michigan Tech Huskies on Thursday, Jan. 11 and the Northern Michigan Wildcats on Saturday, Jan. 13.
To begin their slate of games up north, the Bulldogs (10-2, 4-1 in GLIAC) secured a 66-54 win over the Huskies (7-7, 3-3 in GLIAC).
Ferris State started the game aggressively, getting to the free throw line multiple times and going after the ball on the defensive end racking up seven steals by the end of the first half. This led to the Bulldogs going up 18 points on the Huskies in the second quarter.
Mallory McCartney was a big contributor to the first-half lead, as she was responsible for four of the seven first-half steals. She also paired the steals with three assists and five points before the third quarter began.
McCartney knew the challenge ahead of the team when playing up north while knowing what needed to happen for the team to win.
“These games are huge, going to the Upper Peninsula is always hard and both Tech and Northern are great teams,” McCartney said. “Going up there and winning will continue to enhance the confidence this team has. Doing the little things right will determine how successful we are against both squads. We have so much talent so it comes down to discipline on both ends of the court and also just having fun with it.”
McCartney finished the game leading the team in minutes played (36), assists (five) and steals (four).
The Bulldogs finished their Upper Peninsula series by taming the Wildcats with a 79-67 win.
The Bulldogs started this outing more evenly matched, both teams were tied with each other several times and the lead swapped hands six times throughout the contest. The game was close and competitive until the fourth quarter when the Bulldogs erupted and scored 34 points to the Wildcats 24 points in that fourth quarter. Just as McCartney said, this game came down to the “little things” and the team that executed the little things better was the squad that came out on top.
Head coach Kurt Westendorp was ecstatic to secure these two important “separating wins” and how the team battled through a cold environment with winter storms affecting Michigan.
“I’m proud of our girls. I don’t think many teams will come in here and win,” Westendorp said. “This is one of these wins that can really propel us forward in March … You embrace the environment and you embrace the weather. You gotta play in tough environments and play good teams. We never really shied away from it. We have a lot of girls on the team that are seniors and we’re like, ‘Hey, this is your last Upper Peninsula trip and you wanna make it a memorable one.’”
Sophomore forward Mya Hiram led the Bulldogs in scoring in the Bulldogs victory over the Wildcats with 22 points.
With these two interconference wins, the Bulldogs set themselves up for great seed positioning come playoff time, but the job is still not finished.
Next, the Bulldogs will ride this momentum into another back-to-back GLIAC games, this time at home against Davenport University on Jan. 18 at 5:30 p.m.
The Bulldogs will return home, splitting the weekend with the Davenport Panthers on Thursday, Jan. 18, and their arch-rival Grand Valley State Lakers on Saturday, Jan. 20.