Ferris State Moves Into First-Place Tie Atop GLIAC North With Home Win Over Parkside

Postgame Highlights & Interview 

Big Rapids, Mich. - The Ferris State University women's basketball squad moved into a tie for first place atop the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) North Division standings as the Bulldogs recorded an impressive 78-53 league win over visiting Wisconsin-Parkside in a divisional showdown on Thursday (Jan. 23) night inside Jim Wink Arena.

The Bulldogs picked up their sixth consecutive win and returned home from a five-game league road swing to improve to 13-5 overall and 7-3 in the GLIAC. They trailed the Rangers by a single game in the division entering the tilt and forged a tie atop the standings with the triumph.

Senior forward and reigning GLIAC North Player of the Week Riley Blair had another big performance with a game-high 29 points on 10-of-15 shooting while making all seven of her free throw tries.

The Bulldogs built a nine-point lead at the end of the first quarter and held a 13-point advantage at halftime before outscoring the Rangers 24-11 in the third quarter. FSU led by as many as 30 points with 7:38 remaining in the game and held the edge for more than 36 total minutes in the victory.

Ferris State freshman forward Chloe Idoni notched 15 points and seven rebounds in the win with junior guard Adrienne Anderson pouring in 13 points. FSU's Samantha Krauss had 11 points off the bench.

The Bulldogs shot at a 53% clip for the evening and sank 17-of-20 (85%) free throws in addition to a seven-of-16 (43.8%) effort from long range.

FSU also limited the Rangers to only 34.5% shooting with Parkside making four-of-19 (21.1%) three's and 11-of-14 (78.6%) free throws.

On the glass, Ferris State posted a 35-29 rebounding margin. The Bulldogs also forced 21 turnovers and held a commanding 23-10 advantage in points off turnovers for the game.

Parkside was led by Taylor Stephen, who finished with 14 points before fouling out. Alisha Murphy added 10 points as the Rangers fell to 10-8 overall and 7-3 in the GLIAC.

In addition to the four players who reached double-figure scoring, the Bulldgos also got nine assists from freshman guard Mallory McCartney and five steals from Anderson. Blair added a team-high eight rebounds while Idoni posted three blocked shots.

By virtue of the triumph, the Bulldogs are now tied with Parkside atop the division following Thursday night's action and sit one game ahead of Northern Michigan.

Ferris State will host Purdue Northwest on Saturday (Jan. 25) starting at 3 p.m. (ET) inside Wink Arena.