Women's BB Notes: GVSU (Feb. 26)
Click Here For Complete Game Notes (PDF)
Saturday, Feb. 26
Women's Basketball vs. Grand Valley State, 3 p.m.
Live On Sunny 97.3 FM (Scott Roman & Sandy Gholston)
Live Internet Statistics
Live Facebook Scoring Updates
Live Twitter Scoring Updates
* The Game: Ferris State women's basketball team will host archrival and nationally 21st-ranked Grand Valley State in its season finale on Saturday (Feb. 26) at Jim Wink Arena. Tipoff for the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) game is set for 3 p.m. (ET).
* Ticket Info: Ticket prices are $7 for adults or $5 for FSU faculty/staff, seniors (age 60+) and students in grades K-12. Ferris students are admitted free with their student identification cards. Advance tickets can be purchased thru the FSU Athletics Ticket Office. The box office will begin selling tickets on Thursday at 9 a.m. (ET) with operating hours from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. on both Thursday and Friday. They will also open on Saturday to sell tickets starting at 10 a.m. leading up to gametime. The doors to Wink Arena will open at 12 p.m. For additional information, please contact the FSU Athletics Ticket Office at (231) 591-2888.
* Media Coverage: Saturday's game will be carried live by the Bulldog Sports Network and Sunny 97.3 FM with Scott Roman calling the play-by-play action and Sandy Gholston offering color commentary. Live audio will be streamed online in addition to a live pay-per-view video webcast. Links to follow all the action will be available at www.ferrisstatebulldogs.com (click on the "upcoming events" scoreboard tab or team schedule page).
* Follow On Twitter/Facebook: In addition to radio and internet coverage, Bulldog fans can follow all FSU games this year via Twitter & Facebook. To access the feed, please visit www.twitter.com/ferrisathletics or www.facebook.com/ferrisathletics to follow the tweet-by-tweet social media coverage with periodic scoring updates.
* Wednesday Win: FSU got back on track with a decisive 85-58 non-league win over Urbana on Wednesday (Feb. 23) evening at the Grimes Center in Urbana, Ohio. The Bulldogs snapped a three-game losing skid and improved to 12-13 overall this campaign with the victory in the first-ever matchup with the Blue Knights, who are a Division II independent school. Four FSU players scored in double-figures with senior guard Becci Houdek (Canton) netting a team-high 15 points in leading the Bulldogs. Senior forward Tiara Adams (Lansing/Waverly) added 14 points while junior guard Kelsey DeNoyelles (Mt. Pleasant/Sacred Heart) chipped in with 11 points.
* Welcome Back: The Bulldogs also welcomed the return on Wednesday night of senior center Andrea Clancy (Port Austin/North Huron), who started and tallied 11 points against Urbana after missing the previous six games due to injury. She played 18 minutes and also had five rebounds in the contest.
* The Records: Ferris State (12-13, 7-11 GLIAC) has won six of its last 11 games to date this year. FSU wrapped up the 2009-10 season with a 8-19 overall record and was 7-15 in GLIAC play. The Bulldogs previously made their 10th consecutive and 11th overall berth in the GLIAC Tournament where they advanced to the semifinals for the third-straight year in 2008-09.
Grand Valley State (20-5, 13-5 GLIAC) has won seven of its last eight games to date overall this season and holds a 9-2 mark in road contests this year. GVSU is ranked 21st nationally this week in the USA Today/ESPN Division II Top 25 Coaches Poll.
* The Coaches: Ferris State – Tracey Dorow (Western Michigan, 1996), 13th season, 208-156 (.571) – (12-15 vs. GVSU). Dorow presently ranks as Ferris' all-time winningest coach. She guided FSU to a 22-7 mark and the school's first NCAA-II Great Lakes Regional Tourney appearance in 1999-00. She spent three seasons as an assistant coach at Lake Michigan College (1994-97) and one season at Indianapolis (1997-98). She also directed FSU to an NCAA Tourney berth in 2003-04 and the NCAA-II Sweet Sixteen in 2006-07.
Grand Valley State – Janel Burgess, (Iowa State, 1998), 4th year at GVSU. Burgess came to GVSU after three years as an assistant at Missouri State, four years at Michigan State and one year at Maine. Burgess led the Lakers to a 16-12 mark her first season followed by a 20-
10 record and a berth in the NCAA-II Tourney in 2008-09.
* First In The Nation: Ferris junior guard Tricia Principe current free throw percentage (.924) this season (as of Feb. 24) is tops among all NCAA Division II players. She's currently sank 61 of 66 tries this year and is also on top of the GLIAC leaderboard. Principe previously concluded the 2009-10 season as NCAA Division II's national statistical champion in free throw %. The 5-9 Principe sank 86 of 93 free throw attempts in 27 games while shooting a nation-high 92.5% from the charity stripe a year ago. A 2009-10 ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District IV Third Teamer, Principe made a school-record 44 consecutive free throws last campaign.
* Senior Day: Saturday is "Senior Day" as the Bulldogs will honor their three seniors prior to tipoff of the women's game. The senior class includes three veteran players in Andrea Clancy, Becci Houdek and Tiara Adams. Together, they have combined for 1,954 points, 1,075 rebounds and 509 assists heading into Saturday's contest.
* Ten Wins Again: Ferris notched its 10th victory of the year with its home triumph over Saginaw Valley State (Feb. 5) at Jim Wink Arena. FSU had reached double-digit victories 13 consecutive seasons prior to last campaign. The Bulldogs have failed to win 10 games in a season only twice in the last 20 years and only once under coach Tracey Dorow.
* Saturday Kidz Day: Saturday is "Kidz Day" sponsored by Green's Sporting Goods with fun, exciting and free activities for kids, including an arts and crafts table, bounce house, face painting, photos with Brutus the Bulldog and more. It is free to children in grades K-12 with a paid adult.
* GLIAC Award Winner: FSU senior forward Tiara Adams was tabbed as the GLIAC North Division Player of the Week this year as she won the award following the holiday break (Jan. 5). The 5-9 Adams had 13 points and seven rebounds while playing only 23 minutes in FSU's win over Virginia Union (Dec. 29). She then added 15 points and 10 rebounds in a double-double effort as the Bulldogs fell to host Bowie State (Dec. 30) in the "Cluck U Chicken" Holiday Classic in Bowie, Md. Adams was named to the All-Classic Team for her efforts.
* GLIAC Player of Week: Senior guard Becci Houdek also claimed GLIAC North Division Player of the Week honors this season on Jan. 24. Houdek fueled the Bulldogs' home sweep of Michigan Tech and Northern Michigan (Jan. 20 & 22). The 5-9 Houdek had an impressive all-around game with 12 points, nine rebounds and seven assists as FSU rallied for a 63-60 upset over then eighth-ranked MTU. She then scored a game-high 17 points with four rebounds and four assists despite playing only 24 minutes in Ferris' decisive win versus NMU. Houdek averaged 14.5 points, 6.5 rebounds and 5.5 assists in the two-game stretch. She also made 11-of-17 (.647) field goal tries.
* The Season Finale: Saturday's game will represent the Bulldogs' final contest of the 2010-11 campaign as FSU has been officially eliminated from the GLIAC Tournament race. The Bulldogs are currently 10th in the league standings following Thursday's play and only the top eight teams advance to the field. The Bulldogs had made 10 consecutive tourney appearances under head coach Tracey Dorow prior to narrowly missing the field a year ago. Ferris had advanced to the semifinal-round of the league tournament three-straight years before last season.
* Looking At Grand Valley State: GVSU currently owns a 20-5 overall record and is 13-5 in the GLIAC to date after a 62-58 overtime home win over Wayne State last Saturday (Feb. 19). The Lakers have won seven of their last eight outings to date this year. GVSU was 18-10 overall in 2009-10 and posted a 15-7 mark in GLIAC action. Fourth-year head coach Janel Burgess' team is paced in scoring by sophomore center Alex Stelfox (15.3 ppg.). The Lakers are ranked 21st nationally in this week's USA Today/ESPN Division II Top 25 Coaches Poll.
* Series History vs. GVSU: GVSU holds a 53-24 advantage heading into Saturday's 78th encounter. The Lakers have claimed 11 of the last 17 series' matchups, including a 69-62 win over FSU earlier this year (Jan. 29) in the "131 Showdown" at Van Andel Arena. GVSU also recorded a pair of victories last year by scores of 57-43 in Big Rapids (11/30/09) and 64-41 in Allendale (1/11/10). Ferris has posted three wins in the last eight series' games and current FSU head coach Tracey Dorow has beat Grand Valley State 13 times in her head coaching career to date.
* Earlier This Year: GVSU's 69-62 win over FSU at the "131 Showdown" on Jan. 29 in Grand Rapids came before an announced women's crowd of 5,113 fans inside Van Andel Arena. Ferris led 37-33 at halftime before the Lakers came back to earn the victory.
* Conference Stats: FSU's Tiara Adams has reached double-figure scoring in 21 of 25 contests this campaign. She currently ranks 14th in the league in both scoring (13.0 ppg.) and rebouding (6.7 rpg.) along with ninth in field goal percentage (.506) ...... Senior Becci Houdek is first in the GLIAC in assists for all games (5.3 apg.) along with second in assist/turnover ratio (2.1) and ninth in steals (1.8 spg.) ............. Junior Tricia Principe is first in free throw percentage (.924), fifth in three-point percentage (.440) along with seventh in three-pointers made (2.0 pg.) ..... FSU leads the league in assists (16.1 apg.) and is third in free throw percentage (.769).
* Bulldog Notebook: FSU's Tiara Adams notched her 700th career point in FSU's home game versus Saginaw Valley State (Feb. 5). She picked up her 500th career rebound at Ashland (Feb. 12) .... Senior Becci Houdek notched her 700th career point in FSU's win at Lake Erie (Feb. 10) .... Head Coach Tracey Dorow notched her 200th career win with the Bulldogs victory over Ohio Dominican (Dec. 4) ...... Ferris State ranks ninth in the country in team free throw percentage (.769) this week ..... Becci Houdek was 14th nationally in assists (5.3 apg.) heading into the week.
Click Here For Complete Game Notes (PDF)