Career Day For Muntz Leads First-Place Bulldogs To Road Win

Sault Ste. Marie, Mich. - The Ferris State University women's basketball team went on the road and held onto a share of first place in the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) North Division standings with a 74-71 win over Lake Superior State on Saturday (Jan. 19) afternoon in the Upper Peninsula.

FSU trailed LSSU 37-35 at the break, but received a career-high 27 points from senior guard Kylie Muntz to outscore the Lakers 39-34 over the final 20 minutes and grab the win.

Muntz hit a pair of key free throws with seven seconds to play to stretch the FSU advantage after the Lakers had hit a three-pointer to pull back within a single point.  A potential game-tying three from Lake Superior State's Raven Trammell bounced off the rim as time expired.

With the win, the Bulldogs improved to 10-5 overall and 9-3 in the GLIAC while LSSU fell to 5-11 and 4-8 in conference play.  The Bulldogs also bounced back from a tough road loss at Northwood on Thursday night.

FSU entered the game midst a three-way tie for first place in the GLIAC North and held onto a share of the lead.  Michigan Tech also emerged victorious while Grand Valley State hosts Northwood on Saturday night.

Muntz hit all four of her three-point tries and made five-of-six free throws as part of her game-high point total.  She added a team-high tying seven rebounds with three assists and three steals.

The lone Bulldog senior was joined in double-figures by sophomore forward Kara Hess with 15 points, junior forward Ashley Rando with 12 points and redshirt freshman guard Katie Mavis, who totaled 10 points.

Meanwhile, Trammell led the Lakers with 26 points in the loss.  Megan Manninen made four three's and had 12 points with Kandace Crittendon totaling 10 points.  FSU held LSSU's leading scorer Maria Blazejewski to only six points, but the Lakers did the same with Bulldog All-America junior guard Sarah DeShone.

Despite scoring only six points, DeShone was able to help the Bulldogs as she had five assissts and three steals. Overall, the Bulldogs netted 21 assists as Mavis had six and also came away with 10 steals.

Ferris State shot only 36.9% for the day, but connected on eight-of-16 (50%) three's and 18-of-27 (66.7%) free throws.  LSSU shot 48% overall and was nine-of-19 (47.4%) from downtown and 18-of-22 (81.8%) at the line.

Lake Superior State managed to outrebound the Bulldogs 38-35 for the game, but FSU had 15 offensive boards to only seven for the Lakers.  FSU also turned the ball over only 10 times and forced 21 LSSU miscues, which helped lead to 10 steals for the Bulldogs in the contest.

Ferris State hosts Wayne State on Thursday, Jan. 24, at 8 p.m. (ET) inside Jim Wink Arena at Big Rapids.