The No.20-ranked Ferris State women’s basketball team will host the Hillsdale Chargers as the last out-of-conference matchup before GLIAC play starts.
The Bulldogs (5-1, 0-0 in GLIAC) are currently on a four-game win streak. In the six games played so far this season, Ferris State is averaging 79.8 points per game, while averaging 67 points a game. The Bulldogs are averaging 18.8 assists per game and 40.8 rebounds per game.
Senior guard Emma Schierbeek believes the hot start to the season is important with how good the conference is.
“Our team definitely had a hot start, and I think we have been playing great basketball,” Schierbeek said. “There are some areas we do need to improve in before we start our conference play, though, because our conference has some tougher competition and different play styles than what we have seen so far. I have all the confidence in the world that our team will continue playing great, though, and fix our mistakes so we can keep winning the tough games. I am excited for GLIAC play to start.”
Ferris State is coming off a 73-64 win at Illinois-Springfield. Illinois-Springfield led during the first quarter before the Bulldogs gained the lead in the second quarter and never looked back. Schierbeek led the team with 17 points off the bench, as well as three rebounds and two assists, steals and blocks.
Senior guard Kadyn Blanchard led the starters with 14 points and added seven rebounds, four assists and two steals. Senior forward Mya Hiram ended the game with 12 points, nine rebounds, one assist and two steals. As a team, the Bulldogs shot 48.3% from the field and 31.8% from three-point range.
Hiram also believes in the team ahead of GLIAC play.
“I think we’ve been playing great, and we all feel confident going into GLIAC play,” Hiram said. “I feel like we’ve learned a lot about ourselves, especially with the different style of play that we’ve been doing. We had a pretty tough non-conference schedule that I think has set us up well to prepare us for conference play. Personally, I think that the GLIAC is the toughest conference in our region to play against so it’s only going to get tougher from here but I have full confidence in our team that we will continue to get the job done and be successful.”
Hillsdale (3-1, 0-0 in GMAC) averages 68 points per game while allowing 62.3 points per game, as well as averaging 39.5 rebounds and 18.3 assists per game. Junior guard Annalise Pietrzyk leads the team with 15.5 points per game, 4.5 assists and 5.8 rebounds. Sophomore center Ellie Bruce averages 13.8 points and five rebounds a game.
The Chargers will be playing their fourth GLIAC opponent in as many games after beating Purdue Northwest and Lake Superior State and losing to Wayne State. In their 59-50 win against Lake State, Bruce led the team with 16 points and six rebounds. Sophomore guard Sarah Aleknavicius almost had a double-double in this game, scoring 12 points with nine rebounds, five assists and 1 steal. Hillsdale shot 34.8% from the field and 27.8% from three-point range in this game.
Senior guard Ally Schultz believes their resume so far makes a good case for March.
“I think as we finish up our out-of-conference games, our win streak is making a good case for March when the NCAA is making their tournament selections,” Schultz said. “We know how our games have gone, but we also see the other teams in the GLIAC playing and know our conference is extremely tough to play in. We are eager to start conference play and to continue building our chemistry for the rest of the season.”
The Ferris State Bulldogs will host the Hillsdale Chargers at Wink Arena on Wednesday, Nov. 26, at 1 p.m.