Early Hillsdale Start Spoils Senior Night For Ferris State Women's Basketball

Big Rapids, Mich. - A quick early start fueled visiting Hillsdale to a 74-63 triumph over Ferris State in Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) women's basketball action on Thursday (Feb. 18) night inside FSU's Jim Wink Arena.

The Chargers bolted out to a 22-9 first quarter lead and held a 46-21 edge at halftime en route to spoiling the Bulldogs' Senior Night and home finale. 

After jumping out to the big halftime edge, Hillsdale had to hold off a Bulldog comeback attempt in the second half as FSU outscored the Chargers 26-18 in the third period and 16-10 in the final 10 minutes of action.

Senior guard Katie Mavis tallied a team-high 13 points for the Bulldogs in her final home outing inside Wink Arena. She also added four assists and three steals while sinking a trio of three-pointers in 30 minutes of action.

Along with Mavis, the Bulldogs also honored guard Emily Evans on Senior Night and she finished with four points, three assists and three steals in 19 minutes of work.

Ferris State also received 12 points from sophomore center Rachel McInerney, who pulled down six rebounds and blocked two shots in the game. Junior Joslyn Nicholson added 10 points off the bench in a reserve role.

The Bulldogs were limited to 40% shooting for the game and went seven-of-20 (35%) from three-point range along with 10-of-20 (50%) at the free throw stripe. 

Meanwhile, Hillsdale connected on 47% of its field goals, including 54% in the opening half. The Chargers sank six-of-25 (24%) three's and all six of their free throw tries in improving to 10-14 overall and 7-13 in the GLIAC.

Four Hillsdale players reached double-figure scoring with Allie Dittmer totaling a game-high 16 points and nine rebounds. Both Allie Dewire and Makenna Ott chipped in 14 points apiece with Madison Berry adding 11 points.

Overall, the Chargers outrebounded FSU 44-31 for the night and pulled down 13 offensive boards to nine for FSU, leading to a 16-10 margin in second chance production. They also outscored FSU 40-24 in the paint and 27-15 on the break.

FSU was led on the glass by Alexis Huntey, who pulled down six rebounds. She also dished out a game-high tying seven assists and had two steals while playing 35 minutes overall.

Both teams finished with 21 assists while FSU came up with 10 steals and two blocks in comparison to HC's six steals and five blocks. The Bulldogs also forced 15 turnovers and had only 12 of their own, leading to a 19-9 advantage in points off turnovers.

Ferris State will hit the road on Saturday (Feb. 20) as FSU visits divsional leader Saginaw Valley State for a 6 p.m. (ET) league tilt in University Center, Mich. The game will be carried live on Sunny 97.3 FM and the Bulldog Sports Network online at FerrisStateBulldogs.com.

Following the trip to SVSU, the Bulldogs will then visit archrival Grand Valley State for their season finale next Thursday (Feb. 25) night in Allendale.