Women’s basketball bounces back after loss

Ferris on fire from deep in conference win over Michigan Tech

Following a tough 78-48 loss to the Northern Michigan Wildcats just two days prior, the Ferris State Women’s basketball team (14-5, 8-2 in GLIAC) bounced back with a win over the Michigan Tech Huskies (8-10, 5-5 in GLIAC).

Junior guard Mia Riley led Ferris in scoring, posting 16 points alongside three rebounds and five assists. Three other Bulldogs earned double-digit scoring, including a double-double from senior guard Kenzie Bowers. She finished with 14 points and 11 rebounds.

The Bulldogs have not lost in consecutive games this season. Abe Kraus I Torch Photographer

The Bulldogs looked to start hot and did, scoring more points in the first half than they did against the Wildcats, shooting 29% (10-34) from the field and 36% (8-22) from three-point range. Ferris also came out of the gates strong defensively, forcing turnovers with different rotations and double teams.

Head coach Kurt Westendorp liked what he saw from his team defensively.

“I felt like we played with a ton of energy, really well on the defensive end of the court,” Westendorp said. They’re active and got some good deflections. We mixed it up with man and zone, but we were pretty aggressive in everything that we did.

Ferris started the second quarter slow, not scoring until the 6:06 mark but still being active on the defensive end, getting two blocks and steals each, alongside seven rebounds. However, the Bulldogs heated up at the end of the second quarter, ending the half up 33-28.

Westendorp found positives in the team’s slow start.

“We were able to survive that time because our defense was playing very well,” Westendorp said. “We still won that quarter 12-10, even though we didn’t shoot it very well. So that’s a testament to us being mentally tough and really fighting through when the shots weren’t going in.”

The Bulldogs kept the momentum going in the second half, shooting lights out from three-point range, as they connected on 39% (14-36) of their shots from deep. Ferris outscored Michigan Tech 42-21 in the second half to secure the win.

Ferris has won six of its last eight matchups, with all of their victories coming against conference opponents. The Bulldogs remain on the podium of the GLIAC standings, sitting in second place behind Grand Valley.

The Bulldogs will head up north next week as they continue conference play against the Lake Superior State Lakers on Thursday, Jan. 30th at 5:30 p.m.