Bulldog Women Upset Seventh-Ranked MTU

Bulldog Women Upset Seventh-Ranked MTU

Big Rapids, Mich.- A 39-point second half helped lift the Ferris State University women's basketball team to a 71-56 Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) victory over nationally seventh-ranked Michigan Tech on Sunday (Dec. 18) afternoon at Jim Wink Arena in Big Rapids, Mich.

The Bulldogs trailed by three at halftime, but outscored the Huskies 39-21 over the final 20 minutes to notch the win.

In the final seven minutes of the game, the Bulldogs never allowed the Huskies to get within 10 points of their lead as they handed Michigan Tech their first GLIAC loss.  It also marked the second-straight year in which FSU has upset the Huskies in Big Rapids as last season the Bulldogs handed MTU its only league loss of the year at Wink Arena.

Ferris State improved to 5-2 overall this campaign with their third-straight victory and won for the third time in four conference matchups. MTU fell to 7-2 overall and 3-1 in the GLIAC with the setback.

Sophomore guard Sarah DeShone (Elkhart, Ind.) led the Bulldogs with a game-high 24 points, including 15 in the second half. She hit two-of-four three's in the game and led the squad with 37 minutes of action.

Freshman forward Christina Branch (Grand Rapids) chipped in with 13 total points, seven rebounds and two steals.

Ferris State converted on 88.0% (22-25) free throw shooting for the day, including a second-half 16-of-17 (94.1%) performance.  The Bulldogs shot 46% from the floor for the afternoon while limiting the Huskies to only 37% shooting overall.

FSU owned a 39-25 rebound advantage and had eight offensive boards. The Bulldogs forced the Huskies to turn over the ball 13 times. FSU also tallied 28 points in the paint compared to only 18 for the visitors.

Besides DeShone and Branch, the Bulldogs also received double-digit points from sophomore forward Nikki Arner (Ludington) and senior guard Tricia Principe (Kalamazoo), who had 11 and 10, respectively.

Sam Hoyt paced Michigan Tech with a game-high 20 points in the outing while Kate Glodowki added 10 points for MTU, which was the national runner-up in Division II last season.

Michigan Tech was seven-of-27 (25.9%) from beyond the three-point line.  FSU also had 25 free throw attempts to only seven for the visitors.

Ferris State will host Northern Michigan on Monday (Dec. 19) with tipoff set for 5 p.m. (ET) at FSU's Jim Wink Arena in Big Rapids.  The game is FSU' final contest prior to the holiday break.