On this episode of Ferris Sports Update, Rob Bentley is joined by Women’s Basketball head coach Kurt Westendorp to discuss some of the highlights of their most recent games against Davenport and Grand Valley State as well as discussing how two players were awarded because of the games lastly they talk about the upcoming games against Wayne State and Saginaw Valley. Next, Bentley is joined by Andy Bronkema, the head coach of the Men’s Basketball team. The two discuss the games against Davenport and Grand Valley as well as their upcoming games with Wayne State and Saginaw Valley. Lastly, Bentley is joined by associate head coach of Ferris Hockey, Drew Famulak. The two discuss the recent games against Lake Superior State. The two then discuss the upcoming game against Augustana in South Dakota.
Women’s Basketball
GO BULLDOGS! Women’s Basketball had two outstanding wins this past week, and Rob Bentley is joined by head coach Kurt Westendorp to discuss the good news on Ferris Sports Update. Ferris’s first home game on 1/18 was against Davenport University, with Ferris picking up the win, 92-52. Coach Westendorp gives a shoutout to Kadyn Blanchard for her outstanding plays and “hot hands”, and despite a recent ACL injury, she put 31 points up on the board for her team.
Saturday’s home game was a bit tighter in score with 71-65 against Grand Valley State; the number 1 team in the nation, with Ferris taking another win. It was a big game for Ferris and coach Westendorp gave Grand Valley State some love and sportsmanship stating, “They are definitely a super talented team”. Rob Bentley and coach Westendorp give shoutouts to Ferris players Mallory McCarthney, DeShonna Day, and Amaka Unobogha for their progress in personal skill, as well as teamwork.
If your excited to see the Womens teams progress, make sure to check out and attend future games and show that Bulldog spirit!
Men’s Basketball
Ferris State Men’s Basketball head coach Andy Bronkema returns as a featured guest on this week’s episode of Ferris Sports Update. Bronkema first talks about the home games against Davenport and Grand Valley State, which Ferris ended up winning. Bronkema states: “They were big wins. It was nice to be at home, and the crowd showed up. We had great crowds; it was a huge home court advantage.” He goes on to say that Ferris has been playing well recently, and that the Davenport and Grand Valley State teams are very talented. Rob Bentley asks if the West Michigan rivalry brought any intensity to the team, to which Bronkema says that it’s a very healthy rivalry. These players have known each other for a long time, seeing as most played high school basketball together. Because of this, the games are intense in a good way; and this intensity brings lots of highlights making the games exciting.
Ferris had a bit of a slow start in the game against Davenport. Davenport’s record
reflects that they’ve had a lot of success in the past. They also have the leading scorer in the
league who is also the preseason player of the year. At halftime, the score was 41-28. The
second half of the game, however, is where Ferris took control of the game. Bronkema stated
that the men shared the ball well and, in his words, played unselfishly. Ferris played to their
strengths and gave the ball to who they needed to. Ferris ended the game with 90-61.
The home court advantage came in clutch for the game against Grand Valley State. The first few plays had the crowd amped up enough for GVSU to call a timeout to calm down the crowd. While playing against GVSU, Bronkema thought the Lakers missed a few shots they usually make. At halftime, the score was quite close with it being 42-41. Throughout the game, it was a lot of figuring out how to get around the defense and how to pass around the ball. The final score ended up being 86-73.
Next week, Ferris is on the road again and they play against Saginaw Valley and Wayne
State.
Hockey
Lastly on Ferris Sports Update, head hockey coach Drew Famulak joins the studio. Ferris faced off in two games against Lake Superior State. Both games were played well and resulted in two wins for Ferris.
Ferris played on home ice for Friday’s game, fighting a hard game to win 5-3. Both teams started off the first period strong, playing exceptionally at both offense and defense, resulting in a 0-point period. Going into the second, we saw Ferris get the first two points in the game; Famulak mentions a great finish by Luigi Benincasa. Lake Superior brought it back and tied the game 2-2 by the end of the second period. In the third and final period Ferris was facing multiple penalties, marking them down a player for quite some
time. Ferris stayed strong though, and scored 3 more points to Lake Superiors 1, ending out the
first game. Both teams played this first game well, facing down many replay reviews and
penalties, but ultimately had Ferris pulling through.
Ferris then had to travel North to Sault Ste. Marie to face off on the Lakers home ice.
This second game started off similar to the first with a scoreless first period. Famulak mentions
great plays from both goaltenders, specifically mentioning Ferris’ Noah Giesbrecht. Going into
the second period we see Ferris scoring the first goal of the game, and this ended up being the only
goal scored in the second period. Rounding out the final game of the weekend we see both
teams facing power plays, and pulling through, with Ferris scoring another goal, and the Lakers
scoring two, ending the third period in a tie. In overtime, Ferris ended up taking the
win, ending the game 3-2.
Make sure to tune in next week for another episode of Ferris Sports Update!