Ferris State 92, Davenport 52 - (Jan. 18)
The Davenport women’s basketball team matched up well through the first quarter on Thursday at No. 9 Ferris State. The Bulldogs led 15-12 through the first 10 minutes and then turned it on in the second quarter for a 30-9 advantage and a 45-21 lead at halftime. The Bulldogs kept shooting well in the third quarter and eventually won 92-52.
Davenport did not lead in the first quarter, but did have a tie game at 2-2 and 12-12 in the quarter. Makenna Bryant canned a three-pointer to start the second quarter to again tie it up at 15. Then Lillee Gustafson made a three-point play to give DU a 18-15 lead at the 8:38 mark. Ferris State then went on a 17-0 run over a stretch of four minutes to take a 32-18 lead at the 4:42 mark. Isabel Lindo split at the free throw line for the Panthers to end their scoring drought, but the damage was done. In building their 24-point halftime lead, Ferris State shot 58.6 percent from the floor and were also 6-of-9 behind the arc. Kadyn Blanchard posted 21 points in the first half connecting on 8-of-13 from the floor including 4-of-5 from the arc.
Blanchard would finish with a game-high 31 points for the Bulldogs. It was the most points allowed to a player by the Panthers this season. She finished 12-of-18 including 6-of-7 from deep. Blanchard also had five rebounds, three assists and three steals in 28 minutes. Mallory McCartney added a team-high 10 assists and tied for the team lead with five steals.
Davenport finished shooting 16-of-48 including 6-of-18 from behind the arc. The Panthers had a solid day at the free throw line going 14-of-17. Isabel Lindo was the lone player in double figures for Davenport with 10 points. She went 4-of-8 from the field and had one triple in four tries. She also had three of the team’s 10 steals in the contest.
Davenport 60, Lake Superior State 58 - (Jan. 20)
There were 10 lead changes and nine ties on Saturday and in the end it was Davenport picking up a 60-58 road win at Lake Superior State. It was the first GLIAC win of the season for the Panthers and snapped a 16-game losing streak in conference games dating back to last season. DU secured their third win overall of the season and needed a stop on the final possession to get the win.
Neither team led by more than six points at any moment of this contest as the Lakers led 40-34 at the 5:50 mark of the third quarter and the Panthers led 55-49 with 4:23 left in the game. The lead for Davenport was also six points (59-53) with 1:32 to play when the Lakers crawled back into it. CeCe Hacker made three free throws on two different possession to make it a one-possession game with 43 seconds to go. The Panthers could not put the game away as they missed four straight free throws. Grace Bradford was fouled with 23 ticks left and made both free throws to make it 59-58. Ellie Toney was fouled with 11 seconds to play and made the second of two free throws for a 60-58 lead. LSSU took a timeout to advance the ball to midcourt. They inbounded the ball and Hacker missed a three-point look with three seconds to play which would have won the game.
Lillee Gustafson responded with a season-high 22 points and also notched a double-double with 10 rebounds. Gustafson registered her 19th career double-double and six of the season. She also eclipsed the 20-point mark for the fourth time in her career and the second time this season. Gustafson shot 9-of-17 from the floor and had eight offensive rebounds. As a team, DU had eight second-chance points. Toney chipped in 13 points including 6-of-8 from the charity stripe. Toney also had seven rebounds and one assist in just over 24 minutes on the court. Isabel Lindo added nine points before fouling out in 31-plus minutes. Bradford led the Lakers with 24 points and 16 rebounds. She went 9-of-9 at the foul line and also had two assists and a steal in 34-plus minutes.
