Big Second Half Leads MTU Past FSU In Women's Game

Houghton, Mich. - The Ferris State University women's basketball team battled Michigan Tech in the opening half, but a big second half lifted the Huskies to a 68-49 win over FSU in Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) play on Thursday (Feb. 7) night at the SDC Gymnasium in Houghton.

Michigan Tech held a 25-22 lead following the opening 20 minutes, but outscored FSU 43-27 over the final half to pull out the triumph.

The Huskies pushed their lead from three points to 11 points in the first minute of the second half and never looked back as the Bulldogs could not get into an offensive rythem.

Ferris State was led by junior guard Sarah DeShone, who had a game-high 18 points to lead FSU.  Redshirt freshman guard Katie Mavis added 11 points in the setback.  Junior forward Ashley Rando totaled eight points and six rebounds in the loss for FSU.

Michigan Tech was led by Jillian Ritchie's team-high 16 points.  Paige Albi chipped in 12 points while both Sam Hoyt and Emma Veach added 10 points each.

Ferris State was limited to 33.3% shooting for the night with Michigan Tech finishing at at 41.8% clip.  MTU shot 51.9% in the second half.

The Huskies also owned a 41-30 rebounding advantage and had 14 offensive caroms in the contest.

Overall, Michigan Tech connected on 11 three-pointers and sank 11-of-16 (69%) free throws compared to FSU's five three's and 12-of-18 (68%) tries at the charity stripe.

The Bulldogs fell to 10-9 overall and 9-7 in league play with the loss while MTU improved to 14-6 overall and 12-4 in the GLIAC.  It was the fourth-straight setback for the Bulldogs as round two of GLIAC North play got underway.

The victory was also Michigan Tech's second over the Bulldogs this season following a 60-46 win in Big Rapids on Jan. 10.  FSU had won three-straight series' matchups prior to the loss.

In addition, the win came during Michigan Tech's annual Winter Carnival Festival as a large crowd was on hand for the contest inside the Student Development Complex Gymnasium.

FSU will be back in action on Saturday at Northern Michigan with a 1 p.m. (ET) tipoff time against the Wildcats inside the Berry Events Center in Marquette.  The game will be part of a road tripleheader for Ferris State Athletics following men's basketball with FSU Hockey to follow at 7:35 p.m. (ET) from Marquette.