Senior forward Audrey Thwing embarks on her final two GLIAC regular-season road trips this week as the Bulldogs visit Wayne State & Lake Superior State

FSU Basketball At A Glance: The Ferris State women’s basketball team hits the road for its final Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) regular-season road trip this week. The Bulldogs take on Wayne State Thursday (Feb. 15) at 5:30 p.m. (EST) in WSU’s Matthaei Complex at Detroit, Mich. Ferris then visits Lake Superior State Saturday (Feb. 17) for a 1 p.m. (EST) game inside LSSU’s Bud Cooper Gymnasium at Sault Ste. Marie, Mich. Both games will be the first contest of a women’s and men’s doubleheader.

The Records: The Bulldogs women's basketball squad currently owns a 16-7 overall mark and is 10-5 in GLIAC play. Wayne State enters Thursday's contest with an 10-14 overall ledger and is 8-6 in league action. Lake Superior State is presently 16-7 overall and 11-4 in league play this season going into Wednesday's (Feb. 14) conference home game against Saginaw Valley State.

Media Coverage: Both games will be carried live by Bulldog Radio, which can be heard locally on television Channel 21 both via on-campus cable and Charter Communications in Mecosta County. A live audio only webcast of both games will also be offered at www.bulldogradio.org. In addition, Wayne State will offer live internet Gametracker statistics on Thursday evening at www.wsuathletics.com. Lake Superior State will have an audio webcast for Saturday’s game at www.lssulakers.com. A live video and audio webcast of Saturday’s game at LSSU will also be available through B2 Networks for a charge of $6 on FSU’s Athletics Website at www.ferris.edu/sports. Thursday’s game will be televised live by Comcast Detroit and also replayed by Comcast Local on a tape-delay basis Sunday at 3 p.m. (EST).

Ticket Info: Ticket information along with directions for this week’s games can be obtained by contacting the Wayne State and Lake Superior State Athletics Departments, respectively. WSU’s main office number is (313) 577-4280 while LSSU can be reached by dialing (906) 635-2877.

The Standings: Ferris, which is currently 10-5 in league play, trails Grand Valley State (11-3), Lake Superior State (11-4) and Michigan Tech (11-5) in the GLIAC North Division standings entering Wednesday’s (Feb. 14) play. Gannon is on top of the South Division with a 12-2 league mark with Hillsdale second (10-4) and Wayne State third (8-6). The top three teams in each division plus the next two best finishers will qualify for the annual postseason tourney.

GLIAC Tourney: The annual GLIAC Postseason Tournament will begin with four quarterfinal-round games at campus sites Tuesday, Feb. 27. The top two teams in each division host quarterfinal-round action. The top remaining seed will host the semifinals/finals Friday and Saturday, March 2-3, with the tournament winner receiving the league’s automatic bid into the NCAA-II Great Lakes Regional March 9-12.

FSU Splits Two Games: Ferris State split a pair of league games at home last week as the Bulldogs dropped a narrow 69-65 decision to Michigan Tech Thursday (Feb. 8) before bouncing back to top Northern Michigan 70-65 Saturday (Feb. 10) at Jim Wink Arena in Big Rapids, Mich. Junior forward/center Rachel Folcik (Powers/Carney-Nadeau) put together an outstanding game Saturday with 34 points, 11 rebounds and seven blocked shots. She added 22 points versus MTU. Senior guard Kristin Reinhart (East Lansing) had a game-high 25 points Thursday and chipped in 21 points on Saturday, including the Bulldogs’ final eight points.

Last Season: Ferris State wrapped up its 2005-06 women's basketball season with an 18-10 overall record and made its seventh consecutive GLIAC Tournament appearance last campaign. FSU, which posted a third-place tying 12-6 mark in GLIAC North Division play a year ago, also registered its 10th consecutive season with 10 or more victories in 2005-06.

Tracey Bloodworth-Fisk: Ninth-year FSU head coach Tracey Bloodworth-Fisk presently ranks as Ferris’ all-time winningest coach with a current 151-95 (.614) career record at Ferris State. A 1996 graduate of Western Michigan, she guided FSU to a 22-7 mark and the school's first NCAA-II Great Lakes Regional Tourney appearance during the 1999-00 campaign. She spent three seasons as an assistant coach at Lake Michigan College (1994-97) and one season at Indianapolis (1997-98).

The Bulldog Tradition: The Ferris State women’s basketball program, which is midst its 33rd season of varsity competition, has compiled a 404-420 (.490) all-time mark. The Bulldogs won their only GLIAC crown, advanced to their first NCAA-II Great Lakes Regional Tournament and recorded the nation’s highest grade point average in 1999-2000. FSU, which also claimed GLIAC Tournament runner-up honors in 1999-00, has posted 10 or more victories 10 consecutive seasons to date.

Looking Back At 2003-04: The Bulldogs compiled a 21-10 overall record in 2003-04 and reached the NCAA Division II Great Lakes Regional Tournament for only the second time in school history. FSU was second (14-4) in the GLIAC North Division and advanced to the GLIAC Tournament title game during the 2003-04 campaign. The Bulldogs also recorded the program’s second-ever 20-win campaign three seasons ago.

The Bulldog Roster: Ferris’ 2006-07 roster includes three seniors, three juniors, five sophomores and two freshmen. Six of the 13 players are guards while the remaining seven are frontcourt players. All 13 players on the roster hail from Michigan. FSU senior guards Erin Miller (Niles) and Kristin Reinhart along with Rachel Folcik are serving as the Bulldogs’ team captains for the 2006-07 campaign.

Jim Wink Arena: Ferris has recorded a 61-25 (.709) overall record to date in games at Jim Wink Arena, including a 48-22 (.686) mark in league play. The 2,400-seat facility replaced the Old Jim Wink Arena, which was converted into the current Student Recreation Center after the 1997-98 campaign. FSU won its first 14 games in the facility.

On The Road: Ferris State is 188-135 (.582) overall since 1995-96 and sports a 107-90 (.543) record in road/neutral site contests during that span. The Bulldogs are 64-50 (.561) overall in road games under head coach Tracey Bloodworth-Fisk, including a 47-32 (.595) record in GLIAC play.

Live Internet Stats: “Live Stats” of all 2006-07 Ferris State home games will be provided in progress via the internet. Visit the site at www.ferris.edu/sports and click the “Live Stats” icon to access.

B2 Broadband Webcasts: A live broadband video and audio webcast will be available via B2 Networks for FSU’s remaining home games this season. The cost is $6 per game and includes live video along with a radio audio feed. To access the service or obtain more info, please visit the FSU Athletics Website at www.ferris.edu/sports.

Listen To The Bulldogs: FSU women’s basketball (GLIAC games only) will be carried live this season through a partnership with Bulldog Radio, a registered student organization on the Ferris campus. The station can be heard locally on television Channel 21 both via on-campus cable and Charter Communications in Mecosta County. A live 24-hour webcast of the signal is also available at www.bulldogradio.org. A link is also available on FSU’s Athletics Website at www.ferris.edu/sports (under Bulldog Webcasts).

On The Internet: Ferris State Athletics’ official web site can be found at www.ferris.edu/sports. The site features information on all of FSU’s varsity athletics programs including rosters, statistics, yearbooks and more.

Regional Rankings: Ferris State was listed 10th in last week’s (Feb. 7) NCAA-II Great Lakes Regional Rankings. The rankings will determine the field for the NCAA-II Great Lakes Regional March 9-12 at the site of the highest seed. Eight teams will make the regional field. Lewis (Ill.) topped the latest regional poll followed by Grand Valley State, Drury (Mo.), Southern Illinois-Edwardsville and Northern Kentucky. Six of the top 10 regional teams were from the Great Lakes Valley Conference (GLVC) with four from the GLIAC including FSU, GVSU, Gannon (7th) and Lake Superior State (9th). New rankings will come out Wednesday, Feb. 14.

Huge Day Nets Honor: For the fourth time this season, Rachel Folcik was honored as this week’s GLIAC North Division Player of the Week Award recipient. Folcik tallied a game-high 34 points, 11 rebounds and seven blocked shots in Saturday’s win over Northern Michigan. In addition, she also became only the 14th player in school history to notch her 1,000th career point in the game and currently has scored 1,006 points in her career. Her seven blocked shots 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). The 6-1 Folcik, who also grabbed her 500th career board versus NMU, tallied 56 points, 19 rebounds and eight blocked shots in FSU’s two games last week.

Player Of The Week Notes: Previously, Rachel 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 Kristin Reinhart and Erin Miller 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.

FSU Duo Earns Academic Honors: FSU’s Erin Miller and Rachel Folcik were recognized as ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District IV College Division Women's Basketball Second Team selections in an announcement made last Friday (Feb. 9). Miller and Folcik were among only five representatives from a GLIAC-member school named to any of the three District IV teams (first, second, third) selected in voting conducted by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA). Five players were honored on the first team, the second team had seven selections and the third team featured 10 student-athletes. Miller was a first-team pick last year.

Bulldog Bites: This year marks the 11th consecutive year the Bulldogs have won 10 or more games ...... Ferris’ current scoring average of 78.8 points per game is on pace to break the school’s single-season record average of 77.2 ppg set in 2003-04 ...... FSU’s current free throw (.768) and field goal (.458) percentage totals also presently rank as the best seasonal efforts in school history ...... Senior forward Audrey Thwing (Davison) grabbed her 400th career rebound against Northern Michigan ...... Kristin Reinhart tallied her 400th career assists versus MTU while Erin Miller reached the same mark against NMU. Miller also recorded her 200th career steal in the game.

Back At Home Next Week: The Bulldogs return home to host Marygrove in non-league play Thursday, Feb. 22, starting at 6 p.m. (EST) in Jim Wink Arena at Big Rapids, Mich. FSU then hosts nationally-ranked archrival and defending NCAA-II National Champion Grand Valley State in the regular-season league finale Saturday, Feb. 24, beginning at 5:30 p.m. (EST) in Wink Arena.

Statistics Notes: The Bulldogs are currently ranked eighth nationally in field goal percentage (.458) and scoring offense (78.8 ppg) along with 11th in free throw percentage (.768) and 15th in assists (17.3 apg) according to the latest (Feb. 12) NCAA-II National Statistics. FSU currently leads the GLIAC in scoring offense, rebounding offense (41.3 rpg), rebounding margin (+5.2), defensive rebounds (28.0 rpg) and assists while ranking second in free throw percentage and field goal percentage (.462) for all games played overall .... Rachel Folcik is second overall in both scoring (18.7 ppg) and free throw percentage (.875) in addition to third in rebounding (8.5 rpg) and field goal percentage (.553) within the GLIAC. She’s listed 16th nationally in both field goal and free throw percentage along with 24th in scoring.

FSU vs. WSU/LSSU Notebook:

Scouting Wayne State: The Bulldogs maintain a 28-24 series’ advantage entering Thursday’s 53rd meeting and defeated WSU 90-71 in the last meeting (2/16/06) at Big Rapids, Mich. WSU is presently 10-14 overall and 8-6 in GLIAC action after last Saturday’s (Feb. 10) 78-63 league road setback at Gannon. FSU head coach Tracey Bloodworth-Fisk presently has a 8-1 career coaching record against the Warriors, who have lost four of their last six games to date this season. Wayne State, which is led in scoring by sophomore guard Chastidy Miller (12.2 ppg), was 10-17 overall in 2005-06 and placed fourth (7-10) in the GLIAC’s South Division. The Warriors, who are coached by seventh-year head coach Gloria Bradley, were picked to finish fifth in the 2006-07 GLIAC South Division Preseason Coaches Poll. Ferris has won eight of the last nine series’ encounters to date.

Scouting Lake Superior State: The Lakers maintain a 46-27 advantage heading into Saturday’s 74th meeting. LSSU has won 12 of the last 13 meetings and defeated the Bulldogs 74-73 in the most recent game (12/18/06) at Big Rapids, Mich. The two teams split a pair of meetings last campaign with each team winning on the road. FSU head coach Tracey Bloodworth-Fisk presently has a 5-14 career coaching mark versus Lake Superior State. The Lakers are 16-7 overall and 11-4 in the GLIAC after last Saturday’s (Feb. 10) 74-61 league home loss to Michigan Tech. LSSU, which hosts Saginaw Valley State Wednesday (Feb. 14) before facing FSU, has currently split its last four outings this year. Last year, the Lakers compiled a 21-8 record and finished tied for third place (12-6) with FSU in GLIAC North Division play. LSSU is coached by first-year head coach Jamie Pewinski, who previously was a Laker assistant coach for seven years. The Lakers were picked to finish fourth in the 2006-07 GLIAC North Division Preseason Coaches Poll.