The No. 4-ranked Ferris State women’s basketball team looked to bounce back after losing to rival Grand Valley State Lakers on Thursday.
The 11-4 (5-1 in GLIAC) Ferris State women’s basketball team did just that against the 3-11 (1-5 in GLIAC) Davenport Panthers, winning 89-58 at home in Jim Wink Arena on Saturday, Jan. 11.
Davenport hit a quick three to start the game, but Ferris bounced back, finishing the first quarter ahead 23-12. The second quarter ended with the Bulldogs on a 23-11 run to put the team up 45-23 at the half. The second half was more of the same, as Ferris claimed the 89-58 win at the final buzzer.
All 10 players who played in the game scored, with five different players scoring double-digit points. Sophomore forward Claire Erickson and junior guard Elle Irwin co-led the team in scoring with 13 apiece, with senior guard Kenzie Bowers right behind them with 12 points.
The Bulldogs distributed the ball, gathering 26 assists on 32 made shots.
“I think we shared the ball really well,” Erickson said. “We were able to get stops and turn the stops into transition. I think we did a good job of pressing and we were able to get steals out of that which turned into our offense.”
The Bulldogs dominated on the defensive side as well. The team racked up 39 rebounds, 25 steals and four blocks. Bowers led the team defensively with 10 rebounds and six steals, with junior guard Ally Schultz stealing the ball six times as well.
“We put the pressure on them by throwing in a couple of different presses,” Bowers said. “Overall, the last couple of games, we stepped up, and that showed tonight not only with the steals I had, but the steals our whole team had. We were all over the ball and all over the rebounds, and we did a really good job with that.”
Head coach Kurt Westendorp was very impressed by the way his team played.
“We can never question our kid’s effort and toughness and the heart that they have,” Westendorp said. “We played really really hard, and I believe that this team will continue to play really really hard. You know, we did a great job of forcing a ton of turnovers, did a great job on the boards, you know, winning those possession games.”
This week, the Bulldogs take on a conference road trip. Ferris will play Wisconsin-Parkside on Thursday, Jan. 16 and Purdue Northwest on Saturday, Jan. 18. They return home to Jim Wink Arena on Thursday, Jan. 23 to take on the Northern Michigan Wildcats.