Big Fourth Quarter Fuels Ferris State Past SVSU In Women's League Action

Postgame Highlights 
Postgame Press Conference 

Big Rapids, Mich. - The Ferris State University women's basketball squad posted a home win over the Saginaw Valley Cardinals on Saturday (Feb. 3) afternoon in Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) play by a score of 78-67 at FSU's Jim Wink Arena.

The Bulldogs led at half 35-31 and used a big fourth quarter surge to pull out the win in a key GLIAC matchup against SVSU. FSU outscored the Cardinals 28-15 in the final frame after trailing heading into the fourth period to avenge an earlier loss to SVSU on the road this year.

As part of Saturday's game, the Bulldogs celebrated the upcoming National Girls and Women in Sports Day as young girls had an opportunity to be part of FSU's official gameday staff and get a chance to have a behind the scenes look at FSU women's basketball.

Senior forward Rachel McInerney had a dominating afternoon as she tallied 31 points in the victory along with 18 rebounds and eight blocked shots. Senior guard Leah Humes also had a big day with 17 points and seven rebounds in addition to three assists and two steals.

Junior guard Alexis Bush chipped in with six points, six assists and seven rebounds while sophomore forward Lilly George had eight points and six boards.

As a team, Ferris State converated 29-of-76 (38.2%) field goals in addition to 2-of-12 (16.7%) three's and 18-of-23 (78.3%) free throws.

FSU's big fourth quarter included a 55.6% shooting effort from the floor and an eight-of-nine (88.9%) showing at the line while also limiting Saginaw Valley State to only a three-of-14 (21.4%) total from the field in the final 10 minutes of play.

Ferris State had a big afternoon on the glass with a decisive 54-36 rebounding edge, which included 16 offensive boards to only four for the Cardinals, giving FSU a 18-10 margin in second chance production.

The Bulldogs also finished with a 40-16 advantage inside the paint behind the play of McInerney and the Cardinals got only two points off their bench compared to 10 for the Bulldogs.

Overall, the Cardinals made 33.9% of their field goals and shot 47.4% from three-point range while hitting nine-of-19 to stay in the game. However, they went only 18-of-28 (64.3%) at the line and made only seven-of-12 (58.3%) tries down the stretch in the fourth quarter.

Laurel Jacqmain led SVSU with 24 points and seven rebounds while Francesca Coury added 19 points and Anna Hall totaled 18 points along with seven assists.

Behind McInerney's eight blocks, FSU finished with 12 overall for the game in addition to 16 assists and 10 steals.

The Bulldogs improved to 12-10 overall and 6-8 in the GLIAC with the win while SVSU fell to 5-16 overall and 5-9 in the GLIAC after entering the contest tied with Ferris State for a potential GLIAC Tournament berth at the end of the year.

Ferris State will open a four-game road swing in conference action as FSU heads to Ohio to face the Tiffin Dragons on Thursday (Feb. 8) starting at 7:30 p.m. (ET) in Tiffin, Ohio.