Big Second Half Effort Lifts Ferris State To GLIAC Tournament Championship Game

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Big Rapids, Mich. - The Ferris State University women's basketball squad rallied back with a big second-half performance to advance to the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) Tournament Championship game, beating Wayne State 62-60 in the semifinals on Saturday (March 5) afternoon in Allendale.

The Bulldogs trailed by 15 points at halftime, but opened the second half on a 15-0 run to knot the game back up and ultimately outscored the Warriors 42-25 in the second half to garner the win. Junior guard Mallory McCartney broke a 56-56 deadlock by banking in a right-wing three with 20 seconds to play and from there the Bulldogs hit three free throws in the closing seconds to secure the victory.

With the win, FSU kept its NCAA Tournament hopes alive and will now face rival and nationally second-ranked Grand Valley State on Sunday (March 6) at 3 p.m. (ET) in the GLIAC Tournament Championship game at the GVSU Fieldhouse Arena. The winner earns the league's automatic bid into the national tournament.

In Saturday's semifinal game, Wayne State built a 35-20 halftime lead as FSU struggled shooting the ball in the opening half, including making only two of its first 13 three-point field goal tries.

However, the tables turned in the second half with the Bulldogs getting it done at both ends of the floor, shooting over 43% in each of the final two periods from the floor and holding WSU to less than 38% in both the third and fourth frames.

Overall, Ferris State shot 36.2% for the contest, but also went eight-of-23 (34.8%) from long range and made 12-of-18 (66.7%) free throws. The Warriors finished at 40% from the floor and also went eight-of-23 (34.8%) beyond the arc in addition to eight-of-11 (72.7%) at the stripe.

Ferris State was led by sophomore Kadyn Blanchard, who led all scorers with 17 points. Senior guard Adrienne Anderson added 13 points with both Chloe Idoni and McCartney scoring nine each. All nine of McCartney's points came in the second half on a trio of three-pointers.

Wayne State, which owned a 43-33 rebounding margin, was led by Rebecca Fugate with 13 points. Senior Sam Cherney added 11 points despite battling foul trouble.

The Bulldogs also forced 15 turnovers in the game and had only seven of their own. Anderson came up with five steals for FSU on the defensive end and FSU finished with an 18-14 edge in second chance production on the strength of 11 offensive rebounds.

With the win, the Bulldogs improved to 21-9 overall this year and WSU fell to 18-9 overall. The Warriors entered the week ranked seventh in the NCAA Division II Midwest Regional Rankings and FSU has now beat two regionally-ranked foes in the conference tournament, keeping their hopes of an at-large bid alive as well.

Ferris State, which is making its fifth-straight GLIAC Tournament appearance and 19th berth overall, will take part in the GLIAC Tournament Championship game on Sunday for the fourth time in program history and first since 2012. FSU will be seeking its first-ever league tourney title.

Sunday's GLIAC Tournament Championship game will be carried live by local flagship station Sunny 97.3 FM and the Bulldog Sports Network with online coverage at FerrisStateBulldogs.com. Pregame coverage begins at 2:30 p.m. (ET) from Allendale.