FSU Wins GLIAC North Outright With Victory

Findlay, Ohio - The Ferris State University women's basketball squad officially won the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) North Division Championship in outright fashion with a grueling 80-72 league win over Findlay on Saturday (Feb. 18) at UF's Croy Gymnasium in Findlay, Ohio.

FSU trailed 37-35 at the break, but shot 71.4% from the floor in the second half and knocked down several big free throws down the stretch to improve to 18-5 overall and 15-2 in league play this campaign.

Senior guard Tricia Principe paced FSU with a game-high 27 points while both sophomore guard Sarah DeShone and freshman forward Christina Branch totaled 14 points apiece.

Findlay was led by Clare Aubry and Kayla Brown with 13 points each.  Kaitlyn Nelson chipped in with 11 points for the Oilers, who fell to 14-11 overall and 8-10 in league competition.

FSU shot 51.7% for the day and made 11-of-15 (73.3%) free throws in the victory.  Ferris State hit nine-of-21 (42.9%) three's.

On the opposite side, FSU limited Findlay to only 38.2% shooting in the second half of the game after the Oilers had posted a 57.1% figure in the initial frame.  They finished shooting 46.8% (29-62) from the floor and were nine-of-26 (34.6%) beyond the arc along with five-of-eight (62.5%) at the stripe. 

The Bulldogs also owned a 36-30 rebounding edge and grabbed 12 offensive boards, which helped lead to a 16-8 margin in second chance scoring.

Ferris State dished out 24 assists as DeShone totaled eight and Principe added three.  Sophomore forward Nikki Arner added three assists as did junior guard Kylie Muntz in the Bulldog victory.

Branch hauled in eight rebounds to pace FSU on the glass with Principe added seven boards.  FSU also had six blocked shots with two apiece coming from Arner and freshman center Hannah Hoffman.  The Bulldogs netted two steals.

Findlay had 18 assists, nine steals and five blocked shots on the day.  The Oilers received big contributions from their bench where they outscored FSU 26-12 for the contest.

The game went back and forth and featured nine lead changes along with 10 ties.

By virtue of the win, the Bulldogs have also clinched a GLIAC Tournament Quarterfinal-round home game on Feb. 29 at Wink Arena.  

The Bulldogs will host Hillsdale in their regular-season home finale next Wednesday, Feb. 22, at FSU's Jim Wink Arena.  Tipoff is set for 6 p.m. (ET) for the "Senior Night" game and the Bulldogs will honor their three-member senior class prior to the contest.

FSU then visits archrival Grand Valley State for the regular-season finale on Saturday, Feb. 25, with tipoff at 6 p.m. (ET) in Allendale.