PREVIEW: FSU Begins Final Regular-Season Stretch Against Hillsdale & SVSU This Week

This Week's Action: The Ferris State University women's basketball team begins its final three-game stretch of the regular season with a pair of Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) games this week. FSU first visits Hillsdale on Thursday (Feb. 19) for a 6 p.m. (ET) league tilt before coming back home to host Saginaw Valley State on Saturday (Feb. 21) starting at 1 p.m. (ET) inside FSU's Jim Wink Arena.

Media Coverage: Both games will be broadcast locally by Sunny 97.3 FM and the Bulldog Sports Network. Rob Bentley will call the action with the Meijer Pregame Show starting a half-hour prior to tipoff. In addition, the live audio broadcast will be accessible online. Hillsdale will provide a live video webcast along with live internet statistics on Thursday with FSU offering the same for Saturday's game. For a full listing of links, including live internet stats, please visit FerrisStateBulldogs.com.

Saturday Promotion: Saturday will be "Upward Day" with all participants in the area youth basketball program receiving free admission compliments of Bush Insurance by presenting their Upward ID cards received at the program registration.

Home Ticket Info: Ferris State home basketball tickets can be purchased in advance thru the FSU Athletics Ticket Office by calling (231) 591-2888 or visit FerrisStateBulldogs.com for more information.

Adult general admission tickets are $7 or the cost is $5 for FSU faculty/staff, seniors ages 65 and up or students age 3 thru 12th grade. FSU students are admitted free with a valid student ID card.

Follow On Twitter/Facebook: In addition to internet coverage, Bulldog fans can also follow all games this season via Twitter and Facebook with updates. Please visit www.facebook.com/FerrisWBasketball or www.twitter.com/FerrisWBBALL to follow the periodic posts and tweet-by-tweet coverage with scoring updates.

The Lineup: This season, the Bulldogs have returned seven players who received at least five starts a year ago, including senior guard Destiney Robinson, junior guard Katie Mavis, senior forward Kara Hess, senior guard Dena Droste, senior forward Heidi Highstreet, junior center Christina Branch and senior center Hannah Hoffman. Additionally, the returnees include a three-year letterwinner with significant experience in senior forward Ashley Rando, who missed all of last year due to injury. The other returnees back for the women's team include sophomore guards Emily Evans and Ally Christman in addition to sophomore forward Kendra Enszer. FSU added a pair of incoming freshmen along with a junior college transfer in the offseason.

Back Two Years: Two years ago, the Bulldog women posted a 13-13 overall mark during head coach Colleen Lamoreaux-Tate's first season at the helm in 2012-13 despite battling injuries most of the year. FSU finished with a 12-10 mark in Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) play while reaching the conference tournament for the 14th time in program history.

Looking Back: The Bulldogs posted a 10-14 overall record a year ago under head coach Colleen Lamoreaux-Tate, but won four of their last five games on the year. Ferris State welcomed back 11 squad members from a year ago, giving FSU a deeper and experienced unit in its third season under Lamoreaux-Tate's direction.

Double-Digit Wins: Last Saturday's road victory at Lake Superior State gave FSU its 10th win of the year, marking the 18th time in the last 19 seasons in which FSU has accomplished the feat.
   
The Records: Ferris State (10-12, 8-11 GLIAC) split two league road contests last week as the Bulldogs suffered a close 65-61 setback on Thursday (Feb. 12) at Northwood before coming back to record a 63-50 win on Saturday (Feb. 14) against Lake Superior State in Sault Ste. Marie. The Bulldogs scored the first 10 points of the game at LSSU and never looked back in the double-digit victory.
   
Hillsdale (15-8, 11-8 GLIAC) enters Thursday's game having lost its last two outings, including a 79-51 loss at Northern Michigan last Saturday (Feb. 14). The Chargers, who are only 4-5 at home this year, had won five games in a row prior to the trip to Michigan's Upper Peninsula last week.

Saginaw Valley State (7-18, 2-17 GLIAC) has lost 11 of its last 12 outings overall, including three-straight to date following a 53-42 road loss at nationally-ranked Michigan Tech last Saturday (Feb. 14). The Cardinals are only 1-9 on the road this year heading into Thursday's home matchup with GVSU.

Did You Know: Ferris State posted its most decisive victory of the season with a 77-48 road triumph over Saginaw Valley State on Jan. 31 in University Center, Mich. However, the Bulldogs lost their first matchup versus Hillsdale by a 68-55 count on Jan. 29 in Big Rapids.

Coming Up Next: After the two games this week, FSU will then host archrival Grand Valley State to conclude the regular-season on Thursday, Feb. 26, inside Wink Arena. The league doubleheader versus GVSU starts at 6 & 8 p.m. (ET) for the women and men, respectively.

The two-game set versus the Lakers next Thursday will represent Faculty Appreciation Night as the Bulldogs honor and recognize campus faculty members. All faculty can receive free admission for themselves and a guest compliments of Meemic Insurance and selected faculty will be honored at halftime of the women's game.

Along with Faculty Appreciation Night, the twinbill against the Lakers will also serve as Student-Athlete Night with FSU student-athletes encouraged to attend and it will be Senior Night as the Bulldogs honor and recognize senior players on both the men's and women's teams.

Series History: Ferris State holds a 35-25 series' edge entering Thursday's game against Hillsdale, but fell 68-55 in this year's first meeting on Jan. 29 at Jim Wink Arena. FSU also dropped a 79-75 decision last year (1/4/14) in the lone game between the two schools in Big Rapids. Previously, FSU recorded a 76-63 road win two years ago (2012-13) in regular-season play. The Bulldogs also beat the Chargers 61-51 three years ago at Wink Arena (2/22/12). Overall, the Chargers have won 12 of the last 22 series' meetings to date.

The Cardinals hold a 46-35 advantage entering Saturday's 82nd encounter. FSU has won 23 of the last 32 meetings, including a 77-48 victory earlier this year (Jan. 31) in University Center. The Cardinals took both games in 2012-13 before the two teams split a pair of games late last season. SVSU recorded wins of 73-70 in overtime (1/26) in University Center followed by 71-66 in Big Rapids (2/23) in the 2012-13 campign. A year ago, FSU won the first meeting 83-75 in University Center (2/22/14) before the Cardinals captured a 82-71 triumph in overtime in the regular-season finale at FSU's Jim Wink Arena (3/1/14). The Bulldogs had lost six consecutive games on the road at Saginaw Valley State prior to their 2011-12 victory at O'Neill Arena, but have since won three of the last four in University Center counting this year's triumph.

The Head Coach: Ferris State – Colleen Lamoreaux-Tate (Aquinas), 3rd season, 33-39 (.458) - (1-2 vs. HC; 2-3 vs. SVSU).  A veteran coach with 27 years of experience on the sidelines and regarded as one of the state's top prep coaches prior to her FSU arrival two years ago, Lamoreaux-Tate spent the previous seven years as the varsity girls basketball coach at Grand Rapids Catholic Central High School where she guided the Cougars to a 167-19 cumulative record prior to her appointment as Ferris State's head coach in June 2012.

Preseason Listing: Ferris State was chosen to finish seventh in the 2014-15 Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) North Division Preseason Poll. Northern Michigan and Wayne State were voted divisional favorites for the 2014-15 GLIAC Women's Basketball season. In the North Division, NMU was picked first in the 2014-15 GLIAC Preseason Women's Basketball Poll with 13 first-place votes and 124 points. Michigan Tech was selected second with three first-place votes and 111 points. In third place was Grand Valley State with 77 points and three votes, Saginaw Valley State was fourth with 73 points, Hillsdale was fifth with 67 points, Northwood was sixth with 60 points, FSU came in seventh with 46 points and Lake Superior State was eighth with 18 points.

Preseason All-GLIAC: Ferris State junior forward/center Christina Branch (Grand Rapids/West Michigan Lutheran) was chosen to the Preseason All-GLIAC North Division Second Team as announced by the league office. Branch was the 2011-12 GLIAC Freshman of the Year after helping FSU to the NCAA Division II Tournament in her initial season, but missed all of 2012-13 due to injury before coming back last season.

Lost All-American: Ferris State lost only a single senior from last year's team in three-time All-America guard Sarah DeShone, a native of Elkhart, Ind. Last year marked the third consecutive year in which DeShone also claimed first team All-GLIAC status.  She received WBCA Honorable Mention All-America honors each of the last three seasons and was also chosen as a Division II Women's Basketball All-American her final season. Currently, she's serving this season as a student assistant coach on the Bulldog staff.

Assistant Coach Back: Ferris State head coach Colleen Lamoreaux-Tate returns her full-time assistant coach on the sidelines this season as Shea Mead is back for his second campaign. He previously spent two seasons as a graduate assistant coach in the women's basketball program at NCAA Division I Central Michigan.  The Chippewas made the school's first NCAA Tournament appearance in 29 years in 2012-13 and won the Mid-American Conference Tournament while registering their third-straight 20-plus win campaign under head coach Sue Guevara. A Grand Rapids native, Mead competed on the prep level at Grand Rapids Catholic Central High School during Lamoreaux-Tate's stint as the Cougars' head girls coach.

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