For the first time in 10 months, women’s basketball will be taking the court in a live basketball game as they open their season this Friday.
The Bulldogs women’s basketball team will resume their 2020-2021 season this Friday at Ashland University against the Eagles. This bulldog’s team is coming off a successful season toward the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) Champion. The women’s basketball team has chosen to repeat the GLIAC North Division standings this season.
As the long-anticipated season finally begins, players were thrilled to finally be able to play again. Bulldog senior guard Adrienne Anderson looks forwards to the first big game of the season.
“It sounds simple, but I’m most looking forward to getting to play basketball again and fingers crossed for a similar environment. The fact that we haven’t been able to play in a while really makes me that much more grateful for the chance to experience game days again and everything that comes with that.
In 2020, their season was put to a halt by COVID-19 back in mid-March. As they prepared to work ahead for the new season with everything coming so fast, the hardest part is adapting with several injuries. Anderson speaks on what changes can be expected towards the season.
“I’m dealing with an injury right now, I’m in the process of adapting to a new role of leading more verbally rather than example since I can’t physically play right now. I think my experience allows me to give a different perspective in a lot of areas. I also would say I bring a sense of fire in the aspect of encouragement and expectations. To reach our goals, a lot of work has to be put in from everyone on this team and one of my roles is to effectively communicate with everyone and teach to bring out their best.”
The Bulldogs have four new freshmen and one new transfer joining them for the upcoming season. With the team fighting injuries, they be vital for the Bulldog’s success.
Bulldog sophomore guard Mallory McCartney gives insight on how this Bulldog team is coming together.
“Our personnel has changed, going from five seniors to five freshman makes us a very young team. Our freshman is going to make an immediate impact and I’m excited for them to all make a name for themselves and show how tough they are.” McCartney said.
The team is setting big goals moving forward this season the Bulldogs achieved the GLIAC North Division Championship and obtained the school’s first NCAA Division II Tournament berth in eight years.
One key play McCartney is looking to see who can contribute to this newly developed team.
“My impact on the team is stepping up into a leadership role. With us being really young, it is important to continue to bring positivity and be vocal day in and day out. We have many goals for this season, but it all starts with winning the North. If we win the North, we will be in a great position to accomplish more than where we left off last year and putting Ferris women’s basketball on the map.”
As the season is set to take place this Friday, we can hope to see how factors play out in favor of this Bulldog team. The Bulldogs will play in Ashland on Jan. 8 at 4 p.m.