Ferris State Suffers Close High-Scoring Loss to Defending National Champion Ashland

Big Rapids, Mich. - The Ferris State University women's basketball squad nearly reached the century mark in Saturday's (Dec. 7) Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) home contest versus defending NCAA Division II National Champion Ashland, but it wasn't enough as the Bulldogs fell 97-91 in a high-scoring game at Jim Wink Arena.

FSU jumped out to a 45-35 halftime lead, but the Eagles battled back and outscored FSU 62-46 in the second half to pull out the win.

Ashland shot a blistering 65.5% from the floor in the second half on 19-of-29 shooting and finished with a 56.6% (35-62) figure for the day. 

The Bulldog had trouble containing Ashland's Taylor Woods as the talented guard scored a game-high 34 points on 10-of-18 shooting, including a five-of-11 showing beyond the arc. She also hit nine-of-10 free throws.

Along with Woods, the Eagles received 24 points from senior guard Alyssa Miller along with 16 by Suzy Wollenhaupt and 10 by Melanie Poorman.

Ferris State was paced by senior guard Sarah DeShone's team-high 22 points. Dena Droste added 19 points as both players made five three's each in the setback. Sophomore Christina Branch totaled 14 points and freshman Ally Christman scored 10 points for FSU.

The Bulldogs finished with a 45.2% shooting figure and made 15-of-29 (51.7%) three's to go with a 20-of-23 (87%) performance at the free throw line.

The Eagles managed to finish with a 35-28 rebounding advantage although FSU had 12 offensive caroms and a 19-10 edge in second chance production.  Ferris State also came away with eight steals to five for Ashland.

The Bulldogs forced 13 Ashland turnovers defensively and owned a 19-15 margin in points off turnovers as FSU had only 10 in the contest.

Ferris State was led on the glass by both DeShone and Branch, who each had six rebounds. Both DeShone and sophomore Katie Mavis totaled two steals each.

The Bulldogs dished out 22 assists in the game with DeShone dropping seven helpers in addition to three from junior forward Kara Hess.

Wollenhaupt had a game-high nine rebounds for the Eagles, who beat FSU for the 13th time in the last 15 matchups overall. Woods added seven boards and had a team-best six assists as the Eagles tallied 19 on the day.

Ferris State fell to 1-3 overall and 1-1 in the GLIAC with the loss while the Eagles improved to 4-1 overall and 2-0 in conference play.

FSU will return to action on Sunday, Dec. 15, as the Bulldogs visit Ohio Dominican for a 6 p.m. (ET) league contest in Columbus, Ohio.