Ferris State Drops Tightly-Contested Overtime Tilt To Indianapolis In New Year's Eve Battle

Highlights & Postgame Interview 

Big Rapids, Mich. - The Ferris State University women's basketball squad fought to the finish, but fell short in a 65-62 overtime setback to the University of Indianapolis on Saturday (Dec. 31) in New Year's Eve regional action at Jim Wink Arena.

In FSU's first home contest in nearly a month, the Bulldogs and Greyhounds both struggled offensively as neither team shot better than 33% for the game and combined for 42 turnovers in the tightly-contested game.

Despite shooting only 12.5% from the floor in the second quarter, the Bulldogs battled to a 20-20 halftime deadlock and eventually took a 13-point lead late in the third period, outscoring UIndy 26-16 in the first 10 minutes of the second half.

However, the Greyhounds rallied and tied the game up down the stretch before outscoring FSU 10-7 in the overtime period to garner the win. UIndy went 23-of-31 (74.2%) from the free throw line, including an eight-of-10 (80%) showing in the fourth quarter.

The Bulldogs battled foul trouble as senior center Chloe Idoni played only 17 total minutes in the game before fouling out in the fourth frame. She was limited to seven points and five rebounds in the contest.

Senior guard Mallory McCartney led FSU with 16 points and seven assists in the setback as the Bulldogs fell to 9-3 overall this year. She played a game-high 43 minutes overall.

While McCartney was the lone Bulldog to reach double-figures, Ferris Sate did get nine points and nine rebounds from freshman Elle Irwin in 39 minutes along with seven points, eight rebounds, four assists and four steals by Kenzie Bowers. DeShonna Day chipped in with eight points.

Overall, the Bulldogs finished shooting only 27.8% along with an eight-of-30 (26.7%) effort from the three-point stripe. The Bulldogs went 14-of-22 (63.6%) at the free throw line and had 19 turnovers in the game.

Meanwhile, UIndy shot 33.3% for the day and finished six-of-16 (37.5%) from the three-point arc in addition to owning a slim 47-46 rebounding margin. FSU did have 17 offensive rebounds to only nine on the offensive glass for the Greyhounds.

The Bulldogs will play their final non-conference game at home on Wednesday (Jan. 4) night against Lewis (Ill.) at 5:30 p.m. (ET) inside Jim Wink Arena before resuming Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) play.