BLOG 31: Ferris women seek revenge on road trip

By Sandy Gholston

Ferris State University basketball player Jenna Guay (right) tries to get a shot up as she is defended against Northwood (Photo/Sandy Gholston)

BIG RAPIDS – Ferris is back on the road going against two teams that already have wins against the Bulldogs from earlier this season.

The Bulldogs head to the southern region of Michigan to take on Hillsdale, the seventh-ranked NCAA Division II team in the nation, and then down to Ohio to face Findlay in a pair of Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference games. Ferris takes on the Chargers on Thursday at 6 p.m. and challenge the Oilers Saturday with the ball going in the air at 1 p.m.

The Bulldogs are hoping for a little revenge tour with road games as Hillsdale beat Ferris 76-61 on Dec. 13 and Findlay earned an 81-74 win one day later in Jim Wink Arena.

Lately, Ferris has been playing better basketball. In its last six games the Bulldogs are 3-3. Most recently, Ferris traveled to the Upper Peninsula and defeated Northern Michigan 66-59 last Thursday, but fell to No. 10 Michigan Tech 80-70 on Saturday.

Lessons learned over the course of the season could pay off for the Bulldogs as they challenge two good opponents.

Hopefully the Bulldogs’ post players (Ashley Fleming, Jenna Guay and others) can slow Hillsdale All-American post player Katie Cezat, who had a dominating performance in the first meeting as she finished with 36 points, 20 rebounds and 13 blocked shots.

Ferris has to stay in the game early with the guards (Teghan Thelen, Chelsea Simonetti and Becci Houdek) helping to control the tempo and keep the Bulldogs composed and on task.

Against Findlay, Ferris has to shake off whatever result occurs on Thursday and focus on the challenge of a new team. The Oilers are a solid team all the way around and the Bulldogs have to step it up on defense a little better (the Bulldogs gave up 81 points on their home floor to Findlay in the earlier meeting) and let that allow them to be more sound at the offensive end.

If you have any questions, ideas or comments feel free to contact Sandy Gholston at sgholston2@netzero.com