Bulldog Women Top Northwood In GLIAC Play

Midland, Mich. - A strong second half lifted the Ferris State University women's basketball squad to a decisive 70-50 Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) victory over Northwood on Saturday (Dec. 10) afternoon at the Bennett Sports Center in Midland.

FSU took an eight-point halftime advantage and then outscored the Timberwolves 40-28 over the final 20 minutes to notch the win.

Ferris State led by as many as 33 points in the second half as FSU shot 53.3% in the second half while handing Northwood its first home loss in seven games inside the Bennett Sports Center this season.

The Bulldogs improved to 4-2 overall this campaign with their second consecutive victory and won for the second time in three conference matchups.  NU fell to 6-3 overall and 2-2 in the GLIAC with the setback.

Senior guard Tricia Principe (Kalamazoo/Mattawan) led the Bulldogs with a game-high 21 points in the contest, including 18 in the opening half.  She hit five-of-seven three's in the game and was eight-of-14 from the floor in 32 minutes of action.

Bulldog sophomore guard Sarah DeShone (Elkhart, Ind./Jimtown) chipped in with 13 points, nine assists, five rebounds and two steals for FSU.

Ferris State limited Northwood to only 29.6% (16-54) shooting for the day, including a four-of-16 (25%) effort in the final 20 minutes.  NU was 14-of-21 (66.7%) at the free throw stripe and only four-of-16 (25%) from beyond the three-point line.

Meanwhile, the Bulldog converted 46.7% (28-60) of their field goal tries and hit seven-of-13 (53.8%) three's in addition to seven-of-nine (77.8%) free throws.

Northwood was paced by Savannah Stedman's team-best 13 points and 10 rebounds.  Rachel Church contributed 10 points for the Timberwolves.

Ferris State owned a 43-32 rebounding advantage and had 15 offensive boards, which helped lead to a 14-6 edge in second chance scoring.  FSU also tallied 38 points inside the paint compared to only 18 for the hosts.

The Bulldogs turned the ball over 20 times, but also forced 19 Northwood turnovers and slightly outscored NU 17-16 in points off miscues.  FSU finished with 16 assists, nine steals and four blocks in comparison to Northwood's 10 assists, 11 thefts and four blocks.

Besides Principe and DeShone, the Bulldogs also received eight points each from sophomore forward Nikki Arner (Ludington) and sophomore forward Ashley Rando (Jackson/Northwest).  Arner added six rebounds, two steals and a block.

Freshman Christina Branch (Grand Rapids/West Michigan Lutheran) contributed a game-high 11 rebounds to go with seven points, three assists and two steals in the win.

After taking an eight-point halftime advantage, Ferris State quickly increased its lead to start the second half as FSU opened the final 20 minutes on a 33-10 run to build a 31-point edge with 8:09 remaining.  Northwood never managed to come closer than the final 20-point margin the rest of the way.

Ferris State's victory lifted the Bulldogs' all-time series edge over Northwood to 48-16 as the win was FSU's 25th in the last 29 series' matchups.  FSU also improved to 24-9 all-time against NU in Midland.  Northwood was coming off a 66-59 league home win over Grand Valley State on Wednesday (Dec. 7) evening.

Ferris State will host Michigan Tech next on Sunday, Dec. 18, with tipoff set for 1 p.m. (ET) at FSU's Jim Wink Arena in Big Rapids.  The Bulldogs then face Northern Michigan on Monday, Dec. 19, in a 5 p.m. (ET) league home tilt to wrap up the pre-holiday portion of their schedule.