PREVIEW: Bulldog Women Face Lake Superior State & Northwood In GLIAC Play

This Week's Action: The Ferris State University women's basketball squad returns home to Jim Wink Arena to host Lake Superior State on Thursday (Feb. 9) night in Big Rapids. The Bulldogs then play their final road game of the season on Saturday (Feb. 11) as they venture to Midland to face Northwood in GLIAC play. Overall, Ferris State presently has five games remaining in the regular season.

Recent Results: The Bulldogs battled league leader Saginaw Valley State most of the way last Thursday (Feb. 2) night in a 71-64 setback inside FSU's Jim Wink Arena. Ferris State then bounced back to beat Wayne State 71-67 on the road Saturday (Feb. 4) in Detroit. The victory in Detroit marked FSU's second win over the Warriors this season in as many matchups.

Media Coverage: All of this week's action will be carried live on flagship station Sunny 97.3 FM and the Bulldog Sports Network online at FerrisStateBulldogs.com. For a full listing of links for this weekend, including live internet stats and video coverage, please visit FerrisStateBulldogs.com.

Current Record: Ferris State currently holds a 5-17 overall record to date this year and is 4-12 in GLIAC action to date this campaign. The Bulldogs won two of their first three conference encounters, which included an exciting 62-58 victory at home over Findlay on Dec. 4 when FSU rallied from an 18-point deficit to notch the triumph. The Bulldogs' wins this year include a sweep over Wayne State in GLIAC North action.

A New Era: A Michigan native and former NCAA Division I head coach returned to her home state to guide the Ferris State women's basketball program as Kendra (Harris) Faustin became the Bulldogs' new head coach prior to last season, replacing former head coach Colleen Lamoreaux-Tate after three years at the helm. Faustin, who competed collegiately in the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) at Lake Superior State and later served as an assistant coach within the league at Hillsdale, brings considerable NCAA Division I head coaching experience to the position after having served the previous eight years as the head coach at Niagara in Lewiston, N.Y. She became the seventh head coach in the 41-year history of Bulldog women's basketball.

The FSU Lineup: Second-year head coach Kendra Faustin, who formerly was the head coach at NCAA Division I Niagara University, welcomed back six squad members from a year ago for her first campaign, but the Bulldogs battled injuries last season. The squad posted a 5-23 overall record, but featured a youthful team with nine new faces in the program. FSU lost only a single senior from last year in guard Katie Mavis, who was a four-year letterwinner in the FSU lineup, but missed some time last year due to injury.

Scouting LSSU & NU: Lake Superior State has lost its last eight games in a row to date this season under head coach Kristen Rogers and has only one win in its past 10 outings to date. The Lakers have yet to win a road game this year (0-9) and are led in scoring by senior guard Mackenzie Edwards (14.1 ppg.).

Northwood heads into Thursday night's league road game at Grand Valley State riding a three-game winning streak under head coach Jeff Curtis. The Timberwolves are 6-4 at home this season and paced in scoring by senior forward Jordyn Nurenberg (16.5 ppg.).

Two Double-Doubles: The Bulldogs had a pair of double-double performances in last Saturday's road win at Wayne State. Redshirt freshman guard Riley Blair tallied a game-high 23 points with 10 rebounds while junior forward Rachel McInerney added 21 points and 17 rebounds in the road triumph.

Freshman guard Renee Sturm posted a career-best 20 points in last Thursday's home setback to Saginaw Valley State. FSU received 12 points from sophomore Alexis Bush against SVSU while junior guard Leah Humes notched 12 points in the win over WSU.

Preseason All-GLIAC: Bulldog junior center Rachel McInerney (Saginaw/Nouvel) was chosen to the GLIAC Preseason North Division First Team. Last year, McInerney garnered All-GLIAC Second Team laurels for the Bulldogs as she produced 20 points or more in five games. She started all 28 outings last season and averaged a team-leading 15 points along with seven rebounds per game. She grabbed 10 boards or more in seven outings and shot 50% from the floor along with 73% at the free throw line. 

The Book On Faustin: During her eight seasons as Niagara's head coach, Kendra Faustin recruited and coached 10 All-Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) players, one MAAC Sixth Player of the Year, two MAAC Rookie of the Years, four All-MAAC Rookie Team players and more than 40 MAAC All-Academic Team student-athletes. Three former players also went on to compete in professional basketball and the program compiled a perfect score in the NCAA's Academic Progress Rate (APR) under her direction.

The 2010 MAAC Coach of the Year, Faustin directed the resurgence of the Niagara women's basketball program in the 2011-12 and 2012-13 seasons as the Purple Eagles earned back-to-back 9-9 marks in the MAAC as well as two postseason victories in each conference tournament. The squad's 15 victories in 2012-13 were the most for the program in nearly a decade and the team's semifinal league tournament finish marked the first time in program history that Niagara made consecutive MAAC Tournament semifinal appearances.

In her tenure at Niagara, Faustin led the squad to three MAAC Tournament Final Four showings in a four-year span and the squad's cumulative GPA was 3.0 or higher in each of her eight seasons at the helm. She also helped facilitate the most financial giving in program history in 2013 and led all aspects of the NCAA Division I women's basketball program. In 2011-12, her squad ranked as the fifth-most improved team at the NCAA-I level on the floor.

The Assistant Coach: Ferris State University women's basketball head coach Kendra Faustin announced the appointment of Michigan native Sharonda Hurd as the program's assistant coach prior to last year. A former Central Michigan University women's basketball standout, Hurd had spent the past five seasons as the assistant coach at Olivet College, where she also served as the Comets' senior women's administrator for four years. In 2013-14, Hurd helped guide the Comets to a school all-time best 22-4 overall record under head coach Nicole Burford as Olivet placed second in the MIAA standings and was ranked in the D3hoops.com Top 25 poll for the first time in school history. While at CMU, Hurd was a four-year letterwinner on the basketball team and served as co-captain during her senior season. As a collegian, Hurd led the Chippewas in rebounding three years and was honored as the Dee Pommerank Award recipient for Most Improved Player. She was CMU's second-leading scorer as a senior.

Series History: The Lakers maintain a 51-43 advantage heading into Thursday's 95th meeting. LSSU has won 18 of the last 34 meetings, but Ferris State has captured five of the last seven meetings.

The Bulldogs maintain a 50-24 advantage over Northwood all-time and are 26-10 (home), 24-13 (road) and 0-1 (neutral) to date versus NU. FSU has currently won nine of the last 21 meetings overall after NU had snapped a 24-game series' losing streak with a 68-64 victory in Big Rapids in 2008 (1/14) for its first victory over FSU since 1995.

What's Coming Up: Saturday's game is FSU's final road game of the regular-season. The remaining three regular-season contests are all at home inside Wink Arena starting with a Thursday night tilt next week against Northern Michigan (Feb. 16).

Thursday Night Home Action: Last Thursday's win over SVSU came in FSU's first evening home game this year inside their home facility, Wink Arena. However, it started a stretch in which the Bulldogs play at home on four consecutive Thursday nights in the month of February. Along with the SVSU game, Ferris State will host Lake Superior State (Feb. 9), Northern Michigan (Feb. 16) and the regular-season finale against rival GVSU (Feb. 23) all on Thursday evenings.