Ferris State Women's Basketball Season Run Ends In GLIAC Tourney Semifinals

Postgame Highlights/Interview 

Ashland, Ohio. - The Ferris State University women's basketball team had its postseason run come to an end on Saturday (March 3) as the Bulldogs fell to archrival Grand Valley State 67-45 in the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) Tournament Semifinals in Ashland, Ohio.

The Bulldogs led 24-21 going into the half and battled the Lakers much of the way before GVSU pulled it out down the stretch. GVSU outscored FSU 26-11 in the final quarter to move into the league title game against nationally top-ranked Ashland.

Senior guard Leah Humes led the Bulldogs with 11 points while senior center Rachel McInerney, sophomore forward Lilly George and redshirt sophomore guard Riley Blair each had six points in the setback.

The Bulldogs were limited to only 26.7% shooting and went four-of-17 (23.5%) from three-point range along with five-of-16 (31.3%) at the free throw stripe.

Meanwhile, GVSU shot at a 43.6% clip and hit seven-of-18 (38.9%) from downtown in addition to 12-of-18 (66.7%) free throws.

The Bulldogs competed with the Lakers' big front line on the glass and were outrebounded only 49-43 for the night. George had a career-best 17 rebounds while McInerney added six in her final collegiate game.

Defensively, the Bulldogs also had 14 steals and four blocks while turning the ball over 18 times. Freshman Adrienne Anderson tallied six steals for the Bulldogs while fellow freshman Shaniya Huggins dished out four assists.

The Lakers got a game-high 22 points from Cassidy Boensch along with 14 points from Natalie Koenig. Boensch also pulled down 18 rebounds with Koening dishing out 10 assists in the GVSU victory.

Ferris State forced 24 Grand Valley State turnovers, though, as FSU led throughout much of the opening half.

With the setback, the Bulldogs ended their season at 15-15 overall. The 15 wins are the program's most since the 2011-12 season and this year also marked the Bulldogs' first GLIAC Tournament berth since 2013 and their first league semifinal finish since 2012.

The Bulldogs lose only two seniors on the floor from this year's squad in McInerney and Humes, who both finished the year as All-GLIAC selections.