The No. 15 ranked Ferris State women’s basketball team scored a season-high 103 points en route to their third straight win to start the season 4-1.
After four straight games on the road to start their season, the Bulldogs (4-1) returned home to Jim Wink Arena and took down the Great Lakes Christian Crusaders (1-3) by a score of 103-50 on Saturday, Nov. 16.
The 103 points from Ferris was their highest point total all season, and the 53-point win is the widest margin of victory yet for the Bulldogs.
All 11 players who suited up for Ferris scored, which is the first time for the Bulldogs this season.
Head coach Kurt Westendorp loved that he was able to get everybody involved.
“Games like this are great because you are able to get players experience who usually don’t see a lot of time,” Westendorp said. “It is still early, so we are trying to figure out who we are as a team and what we need to get better on.”
In the high-scoring affair, the Bulldogs shot 46.5% from the field (39-84) and knocked down 33.3% of their threes (15-45).
Junior guard Emma Schierbeek led all scorers with 22 points, senior guard Kadyn Blanchard and freshman center Alyssa Wirth followed behind with 13 of their own.
In addition to the 13 points, Wirth tallied her first double-double by grabbing 12 rebounds, she also swatted away five shots.
Ferris dished out 32 assists on 39 made baskets, and Blanchard was happy with how well her team moved the ball.
“It just shows how unselfish our team is,” Blanchard said. “Especially at home, it was nice to let everybody get into a groove on offense.”
The Bulldogs started the game on an 11-0 run and did not allow a basket from the Crusaders until just under six minutes left in the first quarter.
Ferris continued to dominate and took a 31-point lead into halftime. The second half was much of the same, and the Bulldogs could close the game out easily.
Ferris overpowered the glass, grabbing 60 rebounds compared to the Crusaders coming down with just 28. Ferris was so dominant on the glass they almost out-rebounded Great Lakes when counting their offensive rebounds with 24.
Coming into the game, the Bulldogs knew they would outmatch the Crusaders size-wise, and Westendorp thought his team used their size advantage well.
“Coming in, we knew we were the bigger team, but that means nothing if you don’t have a good mentality,” Westendorp said. “We had that mentality to attack the boards because that is something we struggled with the first four games.”
The defense was also lock-down for Ferris. They never allowed the Crusaders to score more than 15 in a quarter and held them to 32.8% (19-58) from the field, a season-best.
The Bulldogs were active on that side of the ball as well, as they stole the ball 15 times from Great Lakes and blocked nine shots, both of those being season-highs for the team.
Senior guard DeShonna Day liked how well Ferris played on defense.
“It shows how well we practice defense and just knowing where we need to be,” Day said. “We all just help each other out and work together on that side.”
This week, the Bulldogs will play two games at home, Wednesday, Nov. 20 versus the Northwood Wolves and Saturday, Nov. 23 in a DII round of 32 rematch versus the Ashland Eagles.
Ferris played Ashland twice last season, defeating them 66-62 in a regular season matchup and 64-59 in the DII national tournament to advance to the regional finals.