By Caitlin Phelan
The Grand Rapids Community College women’s basketball team dominated Bay College from start to finish, winning in convincing fashion, 71-36. The game took place in Escanaba on Saturday, Feb. 11. The Raider women now move to 12-7 on the season and 6-3 in the conference.
While the Raiders led throughout the whole game, they went into halftime up 11, the score being 30-19. After the intermission, the Raiders offense erupted in the second half, outsourcing their opponent 41-17.
When head coach David Glazier was asked about his team’s stellar second half performance, he said, “Collectively they were not pleased with our first half and showed as much with the way they took control in the third period.”
GRCC finished the game shooting 44.8% from the field, which is their third best offensive showing this season.
The Raiders were led in scoring by Sally Merrill, a sophomore guard. Merrill recorded 26 points on 12-19 shooting. Merrill also grabbed six rebounds, and logged two blocks as well. With yet another dominant scoring performance, this became Merrill’s fourth game out of her last five where she has scored 20 points or more.
“Sally is a tremendous player who leads through her play because she isn’t as vocal a leader as others,” Glazier said. “When she finds how her skills can influence a game, she attacks.”
The Raiders also got help from their sophomore forwards in this big road win. Grace Lodes added 12 points and six rebounds. Allison Kellogg stuffed the stat sheet with 11 points, five rebounds, two blocks, and two steals. Karissa Ferry provided a great spark off the bench, recording seven points, 11 rebounds, three assists, and five steals.
After his team’s impressive road victory, Glazier stated, “I’d like to speak to the team nature of the win. I’m proud of our student-athletes who treated this as a business trip.”
The Raider women return home to Ford Fieldhouse to take on rival Muskegon Community College. The game is scheduled to tip off at 5:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Feb. 15.
