The Ferris State women’s basketball team starts a four-game road trip this weekend with games at Wisconsin-Parkside on Saturday and Roosevelt on Monday.
No.21-ranked Ferris State (16-4, 9-2 in GLIAC) finished January with an 8-1 record, with its one loss being 88-59 against rival Grand Valley. The Bulldogs are averaging 78.2 points per game on 42.2% from the field and 32.2% from three, while also averaging 39.5 rebounds and 18.6 assists per game.
Head coach Kurt Westendorp talks about playing tough GLIAC teams on the road.
“Looking forward to the next couple of weeks, we still have one more home game on Monday night, but then we’ve got to be road warriors in the second round of conference,” Westendorp said. “We have a lot of road games, so we’ll head down over to Parkside and then Roosevelt. These are really big games for us. We’ve had a great stretch of home games in a row, but now we got to prove that we can win on the road.”
Ferris State has four players with ten or more points, with senior guard Kadyn Blanchard leading with 16.2 points per game on 44.6 field goal percentage and 28.9% from 3pt range, as well as 4.1 assists per game. Senior forward Mya Hiram leads the Bulldogs with 6.8 rebounds per game, as well as 51.1% shooting, with Senior guard Emma Schierbeek leading the team with a 40.0 3pt percentage.
Hiram believes in the team’s ability to win the tough games, especially on the road.
“I’m feeling very confident,” Hiram said. “I think that the Wayne State win was a very big confidence-building game. We knew that it was kind of a revenge game, and so I think after all that grit and being able to overcome that, I think it’s going to propel us forward a lot in the next weekend. And it’s always fun to be on the road. We just had eight home games in a row, so I think that we’re ready to be on the road in Wisconsin and Chicago.”
Wisconsin-Parkside (11-9, 6-6 in GLIAC) was 6-4 in the month of January, including a 90-96 loss to Ferris State back on January 5. The Rangers are on a three-game winning streak, and are averaging 70.2 points per game on 42.3 field goal percentage and 29.1% from 3pt range, while also averaging 37.7 rebounds and 15.3 assists per game. The Rangers have three players in double figures, with Sophomore Katie Hamill leading with 14.6 points per game on 42.2% shooting and 33.0% from 3pt range. Senior Peighton Nelson leads the team with 4.9 assists per game, with junior Lillie Peterson leading in rebounds with 7.7 a game.
Roosevelt (5-14, 4-8 in GLIAC) was 4-6 in January, including a 60-78 loss to the Bulldogs back on January 3. The Lakers are averaging 58.4 points per game on 33.2% shooting and 27.0% from 3pt range. Roosevelt also averages 34.9 rebounds per game and 11.1 assists per game. Junior guard Kelly Boyle is one of three players in double figures, averaging 12.1 points per game on 32.7% shooting and 34.7% from behind the arc. Boyle also leads the team with 3.1 assists per game. Junior center Isabella Pitta leads the team with 8.7 rebounds a game.
Bulldog guard Mia Riley is looking forward to playing the second round of GLIAC games, starting with the Rangers and the Lakers.
“I’m excited,” Riley said. “We have another decent matchup, and we just have to win out the GLIAC now. We’ve shown that we can be a good team, so I’m excited to see what the second round of the GLIAC looks like for us.”
Ferris State will play at Wisconsin-Parkside on Saturday, February 7, at 2 pm before heading to Chicago on February 9 to play Roosevelt at 6:30 pm.