The Ferris State women’s basketball team advanced in the NCAA tournament with a win on Friday, March 15 against the Lewis University Flyers and a win against the Ashland Eagles on Saturday, March 16.
In the DII NCAA tournament, the No. 3 seeded Bulldogs (24-5, 15-3 in the GLIAC) took down No. 6 seeded Lewis University (23-9, 19-3 in the GLVC) in the Midwest region quarterfinals by 75-53. Ferris also took down the No. 2 seeded Ashland Eagles (31-2, 20-0 in the GMAC), who are the reigning DII national champions, with a score of 64-59.
The Bulldogs’ win versus Lewis was the program’s first NCAA tournament win in 12 years. Ferris picked up this win in dominating fashion, as the team never trailed in this game and jumped out to an early 18-12 lead after the first quarter. The Bulldogs continued their run into the second quarter as they outscored Lewis 25-8. Ferris led by as many as 31 in the first half.
The Bulldog defense was on point as they held Lewis to just 36.5% from the field and 12.5% from long range compared to Ferris’ 43.3% from the field and 24% from three.
The defense was a point of emphasis for head coach Kurt Westendorp.
“We pressured their shots well, they didn’t have many clean ones and when they did they did not go down,” Westendorp said. “We disrupted their rhythm extremely well on that end of the court.”
Senior forward Chloe Idoni led the team in scoring with 23 points in just 24 minutes and senior forward Kadyn Blanchard finished second on the team in scoring with 17 points. Sophomore guard Elle Irwin added 11 points off the bench for the team as well.
Ferris getting their first NCAA tournament win in 12 years means a lot to the players and the program.
“I had no idea about that coming in,” Idoni said. “Being able to do that with us girls who are so close on and off the court is amazing, it gives us great momentum”
The Bulldogs defeated defending national champions Ashland the following day in the Midwest region semi-finals. Ferris handed Ashland their only regular-season loss earlier in the season 66-62.
Ferris put up a tremendous first quarter and set the tone of the game the team won the first quarter 22-10.
“Getting out to a hot start was a key, Ashland isn’t a team you can play from behind against,” Westendorp said. “Not just knocking down shots but really keying in defensively.”
Ferris shot 57% from the field compared to the Eagles 27% in the first.
The Bulldogs were able to turn their defense into offense, leading the points off turnover battle 23-11.
Ashland stayed in the game and made a few runs to keep the game close, but that did not faze Ferris.
Senior guard Mallory McCartney knew that the Bulldogs were going up against a team with a high-powered offense.
“Ashland is an extremely powerful offense, we knew they were going to make shots,” McCartney said. “The biggest thing was knowing we are a powerful offense too, they might get a couple on us but they won’t be able to stop us.”
Idoni led the Bulldogs in scoring with 21, Blanchard added 16 and McCartney tallied 10.
Ferris moved on to the Midwest region final on Monday, March 18 in Allendale and looked to claim a regional championship. This is only the second regional championship appearance for the Bulldogs and the first since 2007.