FERRIS STATE'S RACHEL FOLCIK HONORED FOR FOURTH TIME

Junior Named GLIAC North Division Women's Basketball Player Of The Week

Ferris State's Rachel Folcik earned the GLIAC North Division Player of the Week honor for the fourth time this season

This past Saturday (Feb. 10), Folcik tallied a game-high 34 points, 11 rebounds and seven blocked shots as FSU fought off a tough Northern Michigan squad for a 70-65 league home win inside Jim Wink Arena at Big Rapids, Mich. In addition, she also became only the 14th player in school history to notch her 1,000th career point and currently has scored 1,006 points in her career. Her seven blocked shots in the game was one shy of tying the school's single-game record. Folcik's 16 made field goals in the contest tied the school record owned by former Bulldog player Ola Earvin, who had the same number against Florida Southern in 1993-94 (12/31).

Folcik tallied 56 points, 19 rebounds and eight blocked shots in two league home games this past week as she added 22 points and eight boards in the Bulldogs’ narrow 69-65 setback Thursday (Feb. 8) versus Michigan Tech. Folcik, who also grabbed her 500th career board in Saturday’s game, averaged 28 points, 9.5 rebounds and four blocks in the two games. Last Friday (Feb. 9), Folcik was also named to the 2006-07 ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District IV Women's Basketball College Division Second Team for her performance both on the floor and in the classroom.

Previously, Folcik was selected as the GLIAC North Division Player of the Week for the first time in her career to open the New Year (Jan. 3) and also attained the honor two other consecutive weeks (Jan. 15 & Jan. 22). To date, she's attained the league weekly honor four of the last seven times its been awarded this campaign. Her selection as the GLIAC's weekly award winner this week marks the sixth time a Ferris player has earned the distinction this season as both senior guards Kristin Reinhart (East Lansing) and Erin Miller (Niles) were previous recipients on Nov. 20 and Nov. 27, respectively. FSU has presently had a player honored as the league's player of the week 19 times in the last five seasons, including the current year, to date.

Folcik, who’s currently averaging a team-best 18.7 points per game, has presently scored in double-figures 19 times to date this year. She was honored as Ferris State University’s female Bulldog of the Month award winner for both December and January based on her play the last two months and has attained GLIAC North Division Player of the Week kudos three times to date this season. A team captain, Folcik is also currently averaging a squad-best 8.5 rebounds per game this campaign. She's presently listed second overall in scoring and fourth in rebounds among the GLIAC's overall leaders while ranking second in free throw (.875) along with third in field goal (.553) percentage.

Folcik received the squad's Sixth Player and Rookie of the Year Awards as a freshman in 2004-05 after recording 245 points, 150 rebounds and 39 assists while notching 10 double-digit scoring performances in 28 contests. She tallied 10 points or more in six of the squad's final eight games as a rookie. Folcik also ranked second among the squad's leaders in both field goal percentage (.505) and rebounding (5.4 rpg) along with fourth in scoring (8.8 ppg) in 2004-05.

Last season (2005-06), Folcik was a GLIAC All-Academic Team selection. She finished second among the team's performers in rebounding (6.1 rpg) and third in scoring (12.8 ppg) along with registering 19 double-figure scoring games. Folcik also was named to the Aquinas College Classic All-Tournament Team a year ago. Earlier this year, Folcik was chosen as an all-tourney selection as Ferris posted a 2-0 mark in the season-opening Clarion (Pa.) Classic (Nov. 17-18).

The Bulldog women's basketball team, which is currently 16-7 overall and 10-5 in GLIAC action this season, visits Wayne State Thursday, Feb. 15, for a 5:30 p.m. (EST) league tilt in Detroit, Mich. The game will be carried live by Bulldog Radio, which can heard locally on television Channel 21 both via on-campus cable and Charter Communications in Mecosta County. A live audio webcast will also be provided by Bulldog Radio at www.bulldogradio.org.