March 10, 2007

ROMEOVILLE, Ill. - No. 7 seed Ferris State (23-8) held off a second-half charge by No. 6 Gannon (25-6) and posted an 80-61 victory Saturday in the Great Lakes Regional semifinals.

Led by Rachel Folcik's 16 points, Ferris State built a 20-point first-half lead before settling for a 39-23 margin at intermission. The Bulldogs shot 52 percent from the floor while holding Gannon to 28 percent in the opening period.

Gannon opened the second half with a 17-7 run that sliced the Ferris State lead to 46-40 at the 13:20 mark. The Golden Knights got as close as 4 points, 61-57, with 5:32 to play, but the Bulldogs pulled away by scoring 19 of the game's final 23 points.

Folcik's 16 points led all scorers. Ferris also received double-figure performances from Kristin Reinhart (15), Teghan Thelen (14), Sam Johns (11) and Andrea Clancy (11). Clancy grabbed a team-high 8 rebounds.

Christina Jackson led Gannon with 14 points and a game-high 15 rebounds, including 7 offensive boards. Carrie Nolan scored 12 points, Casey England tallied 11 and Ashley Lowdermilk finished with 10. Tiffany Crocker led all players with 5 assists.

Ferris State will play the Lewis-Drury winner in the regional title game Monday at 7 p.m.