Ferris State Battles Lewis Early Before Falling To Flyers At Wink Arena

Big Rapids, Mich. - A big second half lifted visiting Lewis to a 82-57 victory over Ferris State in non-conference women's basketball action on Sunday (Nov. 27) at FSU's Jim Wink Arena.

The Flyers broke up a 33-33 halftime deadlock by outscoring FSU 22-10 in the third quarter en route to the win as they improved to 6-1 overall this year.

Ferris State battled Lewis well early as FSU built a 21-15 lead after one quarter and led by as many as 10 points with 7:54 remaining in the first half. However, LU closed the first half by tying the game up at intermission and then compiled 49 points in the final two periods to earn the victory.

The Bulldogs were paced by redshirt freshman guard Riley Blair, who compiled 24 points and knocked down a pair of three-pointers along with four-of-five free throws. FSU also established junior center Rachel McInerney early and she tallied 14 points while reaching double-digits.

However, Lewis had its own one-two punch with Jamie Johnson pouring in a game-high 27 points, including five three's the outside while Jessica Kelliher went 12-of-18 from the floor and finished with 26 points down low.

The Flyers shot 50% from the floor for the game and hit seven-of-19 (36.8%) three's along with seven-of-nine (77.8%) free throws. Meanwhile, FSU shot at a 40% clip and went three-of-14 (21.4%) from long distance in addition to 14-of-18 (77.8%) from the charity stripe.

Lewis managed to outrebound the Bulldogs 38-27 for the day and compiled 12 offensive caroms to four for FSU, which led to a 13-4 margin in second chance scoring. Kelliher had a game-high nine boards for Lewis while McInerney pulled down seven on the Bulldog side.

Additionally, the Flyers also totaled 40 points inside the paint to 20 for Ferris State and finished with a 15-3 edge in points off turnovers. FSU had 17 turnovers overall compared to 12 for the visitors.

Both teams distributed the ball well with Lewis garnering 25 assists to 20 for FSU. Sophomore forward Abby Nakfoor totaled five assists on the FSU side as did sophomore guard Alexis Bush while Blair netted four assists. Johnson had five assists for Lewis.

Finally, the Bulldogs finished with seven steals and two blocked shots with Lewis totaling seven steals and three blocks in the game, which featured only a single lead change but was tied twice.

Ferris State will open Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) play on Thursday, Dec. 1, as FSU hosts Ohio Dominican at 6 p.m. (ET). The game will take place at Big Rapids High School due to Ferris State also hosting the NCAA Division II Midwest Regional Volleyball Tournament at Wink Arena the same evening.

Following the conference opener against ODU, the Bulldogs then return to Jim Wink Arena to host Findlay on Sunday, Dec. 4, starting at 12 p.m. (ET). The game was moved from its original Saturday date due to the volleyball regional.