Saginaw Valley State University at Ferris State University – – Women’s Basketball – – The Bleacher Denizen – – Goes to College – – January 2, 2025 – – by Chuck Krafft
This afternoon, your Bleacher Denizen ignored Horace Greeley’s advice to go west, and headed up north to Big Rapids. (Of course, Horace Greeley’s advice was aimed at young men and the Bleacher Denizen is considered “young” only to the most generous of commenters.) Today’s women’s basketball game will be between the hometown Bulldogs of Ferris State University and the visiting Cardinals from Saginaw Valley State University.
So, yes, your Bleacher Denizen Goes to College! (This title is eerily similar to an awful situation comedy called “Mrs. G. Goes to College” from 1961-62. We’ll just say that it is about an older woman who went to college and is loaded with corny humor that was probably not funny even on vaudeville stages.) One wonders why the Bleacher Denizen titled the article this way, but I suppose it is typed now – – –
The Bleacher Denizen does a CMAC Girls and CMAC Boys Game of the Week each week during the High School Basketball Season. Two of the top girls’ players in the CMAC (Central Michigan Athletic Association) were Mia Riley, who played at Fowler and now is a starter for the Ferris State Bulldogs and Lydia Meredith, who played at Portland St. Patrick and is now a starter for the Saginaw Valley State University Bulldogs. (Saginaw Valley will be abbreviated as SVSU for most of the rest of the article to save wear and tear on your Bleacher Denizen’s aging fingers.)
Mia Riley and Lydia Meredith both graduated in 2022 and their teams were almost undisputably easily the best girls basketball teams in Division 4. St. Patrick was undefeated until they met Fowler in the District Final and Fowler was always Number 2 in the state that year. The only Division 4 team Fowler lost to that entire year was St. Patrick.
For many years, unfortunately, these two teams (who were both great for a series of years) had to play in the District Final in the first week of the state tournament. This Fowler/St. Patrick Girls final was an epic game for the ages. Lansing Christian’s Gym was packed to capacity for this exciting game. Here is the Bleacher Denizen Play by Play.
Fowler won that game and went on to win the State Championship that year. They also won in 2021! (There is also a link to the 2021 Championship game in that article.) For those who are interested, Fowler and St. Patrick were featured in many blog articles.
Mia Riley and her sister Emma were the best two players on that Fowler team; I believe each sister was all-state three years. (Mia is one year older than Emma, who plays for Saginaw Valley, and would have probably been a rotation player or starter this year, but is injured and out for the season.)
Mia was a fantastic athlete with a lot of skills on offense and defense. Possibly her biggest asset is that she was extremely competitive and never wasted a moment of court time. She was a great ball handler and a surprising rebounder for her size. She was really good at getting to the basket and a suffocating defender. She was a great leader in addition to all her on-court skills.
Lydia Meredith played a similar role for Portland St. Patrick as she ran the point and handled the ball really well. She was tall for a high school point guard and used her length to be an intimidating player anywhere on the court. On the offensive she was a solid shooter who could overwhelm opponents and easily get to the basket, almost at will.
Of course, one of the biggest wins for St. Patrick in Lydia’s senior year was this second regular season win over Fowler.
https://thebleacherdenizen.com/2022/02/02/portland-st-patrick-at-fowler-cmac-girls-game-of-the-week-the-bleacher-denizen-february-1-2022-by-chuck-krafft/
Of course, they are not the only two great players who will be playing today.
Ferris State enters this game with an 8-3 overall record and is 2-0 in the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference.
The Bulldogs’ leading scorer is Kadyn Blanchard, who averages 17.8 points and 5.4 rebounds per game. Mia Riley scores 12.3 points per game; Mya Hiram also scores in double figures at 10.4 points per game. Mia Riley also gets 6.0 rebounds and 3.1 assists per game. The other two starters for every game this season have been Elle Irwin, who averages 9.3 points and Kenzie Bowers, who averages 9.1 points per game. Elle Irwin is a fine three point shooter who hits 44.7 percent of her three point shots.
Ally Schultz, who played for St. Ignace, has also appeared in many of my blog articles. She had incredible range on her three point shot, even as a freshman. Mia McLaughlin from Frankenmuth was also in a couple articles and played in the State Final as a junior.
Saginaw Valley enters this game with a 6-4 overall record and is 0-2 in the GLIAC.
Aleshia Jones is the Cardinals’ leading scorer and averages 15.6 points per game. Megan McCalla scores 15.2 points per game. Ava Locklear scores 8.5 points and 5.8 rebounds per game. Lydia Meredith scores 5.2 points per game and leads the team in steals with 2.7 per game. She also leads the team in assists with 3.3 per game. Samaa Walker scored 3.6 points per game to go along with 2.4 steals.
I got to the gym in time to talk with Mia Riley and Lydia Meredith at courtside (over an hour before game time.) I also had a little time to catch up with Emma Riley. It was great seeing these players continuing to pursue the game for which they have a passion!!
It is now time to review this game through the occasionally clear lenses of an aging Bleacher Denizen who, unlike the fine players who will compete today, was never able to escape church league when he attempted to hoop in the days when he was deemed to be “young.”
Alas, he never was completely able to grasp the concept that he needed to only throw passes to players who were wearing the same color shirt as him. The Bleacher Denizen thought this interfered with his creativity, but his coach consistently growled about something called “turnovers.” It turns out that this wonderful bakery pastry has a somewhat sinister reputation among basketball coaches. Your Bleacher Denizen’s playing time suffered greatly.
After the National Anthem was sung, they introduced the five Saginaw Valley starters and dimmed the lights to introduce the Ferris starting five.
The opening tap goes out of bounds and Ferris takes possession. The Bulldogs commit an offensive foul. Kenzie Bowers knocks the ball away from SVSU, but the Cardinals are able to recover. This leads to a shot clock violation and Ferris takes possession. The Bulldogs misfire on a triple try from the wing. Kadyn Blanchard steals the ball for the Bulldogs and passes to Mia Riley, who hits a fast break layup to give Ferris the first two points of the game.
SVSU misses a jumper from the free throw elbow. Lydia Meredith purloins the ball for the Cardinals. SVSU misses a layup. Mya Hiram hits a fast break layup for Ferris. Kenzie Bowers knocks the ball out of bounds; SVSU retains possession. Megan McCalla throws in a long threeball from the wing for SVSU to trim the Ferris lead to 4-3.
Elle Irwin passes to Mya Hiram, who hits a layup for Ferris. Sleshia Jones is fouled on a driving layup and hits two free throws to cut the Ferris lead to 6-5 with 6:41 left in the opening quarter.
Ferris misses a three point shot from the side. Mia Riley snags the offensive rebound for the Bulldogs. Kenzie Bowers drives and hits a layup for the Bulldogs. She is fouled on the play and makes her free throw. Lydia Meredith drives and hits an eight foot shot in the lane to shave the Ferris lead to 9-7.
Ferris misses a layup. Mia Riley steals the ball for the Bulldogs. Megan McCalla knocks the ball away from Ferris; Lydia Meredith picks it up for SVSU and zips in for a Cardinal fast break layup that ties the game. Kadyn Blanchard drives and hits an eight foot shot in the lane for Ferris. SVSU commits an offensive foul. Lydia Meredith knocks the ball away from a Bulldog ball handler and it goes out of bounds; Ferris retains possession. Lydia Meredith blocks a Bulldog triple try from the corner. Ferris recovers and DeShonna Day hits a layup to give her Bulldogs a 13-9 lead.
Kenzie Bowers steals the ball fo the Bulldogs. Ferris misses a layup. DeShonna Day gets the offensive rebound for the Bulldogs. Ferris misses a layup. Saniaa Walker passes to Megan McCalla, who hits a reverse layup for Saginaw Valley. Saniaa Walker steals the ball for the Cardinals. Megan McCalla hits a layup for SVSU to tie the game at 13-13.
Saniaa Walker makes a fantastic hustle play when she dives and forces Ferris to lose the ball out of bounds. Aleshia Jones makes a great pass to Megan McCalla, who is fouled in the lane before she can shoot. (No free throws were awarded.) SVSU misses a turnaround jumper from the free throw elbow and fouls on the rebound. Saniaa Walker knocks the ball out of bounds to foil a Ferris fast break.
Ferris gets the ball back. The Bulldogs miss a threeball from the top of the key; the rebound goes out of bounds and the Cardinals take possession. SVSU misses a reverse layup. Kadyn Blanchard passes to Mia Riley, who is cutting to the basket and hits a layup to give the lead back to Ferris. Kadyn Blanchard steals a Cardinal pass and hits a fast break layup. Kadyn Blanchard steals the ball and passes to Emma Schierbeek, who hits a layup for Ferris. Kadyn Blanchard steals the ball, hits a fast break layup, is fouled and hits her free throw to boost Ferris to a 22-13 lead with 59.9 seconds to go in the opening quarter.
SVSU misses a three point shot from the side. Megan McCalla hits a putback for the Cardinals. DeShonna Day passes to Emma Schierbeek, who hits a three point shot from the side as the first quarter buzzer announces its presence.
With one quarter in the books, Ferris holds a 25-15 lead.
SVSU inbounds the ball to start the second quarter. Elle Irwin blocks a Cardinal eight foot shot in the lane. Ferris misses a six foot turnaround jumper in the lane. Megan McCalle drives and hits a layup for SVSU. Ferris misses a driving layup. Ava Locklear passes to Beckham Hockley, who hits a threeball from the corner for SVSU. Mia Riley drives and scoops in a layup for SVSU. She is fouled on the play and hits her free throw to boost the Bulldog lead to 28-20 with 8:02 remaining in the opening half.
Aleshia Jones hits a jumper off the dribble from the free throw line for SVSU. Ferris misses a layup. SVSU misses a driving layup. Ava Locklear hits a putback, is fouled and hits her free throw for SVSU. Ferris misses an eight foot banked shot in the lane. SVSU misses a three point shot from the side. Lydia Meredith grabs the offensive rebound for the Cardinals.
SVSU misses a layup. The rebound goes out of bounds and the Cardinals get another opportunity. Mia Riley gets a hand on the ball and knocks it out of bounds; Ferris takes possession. Ferris misfires on a threeball from the wing. Mia Riley nearly steals the ball for the Bulldogs, but the Cardinals are able to recover. Aleshia Jones is fouled and hits two free throws to chop the Bulldog lead to 30-27 with 5:21 remaining in the half.
SVSU misses a driving layup. Ava Locklear pulls down the offensive rebound for the Cardinals. Claire Erickson’s tough defense forces SVSU to miss a layup. The rebound goes out of bounds and the Cardinals get another possession. Emma Schierbeek steals the ball for the Bulldogs. Ferris misses a fifteen footer from the side. Beckham Hockley is fouled and hits one of her two free throws to pull her Cardinals to within two points. Ferris misses a fifteen foot shot from the side. Megan McCalla is fouled driving to the hoop and hits two free throws for SVSU to tie the game at 30-30 with 3:47 left in the half.
Ferris misses a three point shot from the wing. Megan McCalla drives the lane and hits a layup to give SVSU the lead. Ava Locklear knocks the ball away from Ferris and Megan McCalla picks it up for SVSU. SVSU misses a three pointer from the side. Lydia Meredith steals the ball for the Cardinals. SVSU misses a driving layup; the rebound is tipped out to Ava Locklear, who securs the rebound for the Cardinals.
Ally Schultz dives and forces a tieup. The Possession Arrow ponders its options and polls its financial board; they decide to reward Ally Schultz and award the ball to Ferris. The Bulldogs miss a jump shot from the free throw elbow; Alyssa Wirth gets the offensive rebound for Ferris. Ferris misses a jump shot in the lane. SVSU misses a three point shot from the corner. Ava Locklear knocks a Bulldog pass out of bounds; Ferris retains possession.
Ferris misses a three pointer from the side. Lainey Yater passes to Megan McCalla, who takes a short drive and hits a reverse layup to give SVSU a four point lead. Ferris misses a six footer off the dribble in the lane. Mia Riley steals the ball and passes to Emma Schierbeek, who hits a fast break layup to trim the Cardinal lead to two points. Mia Riley knocks the ball loose and neither team is able to recover before the buzzer announces that halftime is here.
At halftime, Saginaw Valley State University has a 34-32 lead.
Megan McCalla has 17 points and Aleshia Jones has 6 points to lead the Saginaw Valley scoring at haltime.
Kadyn Blanchard, Mia Riley and Emma Schierbeek each have 7 points to lead Ferris at halftime.
SVSU inbounds the ball to get quarter number three underway. The Cardinals miss a layup and the Bulldogs lose a pass out of bounds. SVSU misfires on a triple try from the corner. Kadyn Blanchard passes to Mya Hiram, who hits a layup for the Bulldogs to tie the game at 34-34.
SVSU misses a three pointer from the corner. Kenzie Bowers passes to Mya Hiram, who hits a jumper from the free throw elbow to give Ferris a two point lead. Elle Irwin blocks an SVSU shot. Mia Riley picks up the loose ball for the Bulldogs. Mya Hiram is fouled on a putback and splits her pair of free throws to boost Ferris to a 37-34 lead with 7:52 to play in the third quarter.
Mya Hiram draws a charging foul from the CArdinals. Fowler misses a layup. Mia Riley is fouled on a putback and hits two free throws for Ferris. SVSU misses a layup. Aleshia Jones knocks the ball away from Ferris and it is tied up. The Possession Arrow and its legal staff ignore Ms. Jones’ fine defense and award the ball to Ferris. Kadyn Blanchard ignores the Possession Arrow’s drama creation; she drives, spins and hits a layup to push the Bulldogs to a 41-34 lead.
Mia Riley steals the ball for the Bulldogs. Ferris misses a fast break layup. Mya Hiram is fouled on a putback and hits two free throws for Ferris. Kadyn Blanchard knocks a Cardinal pass out of bounds; SVSU gets the ball back. Kadyn Blanchard steals the ball for Ferris and hits a fast break layup to give Ferris a 45-34 lead. Ferris has outscored SVSU 13-0 to start the second half.
DeShonna Day knocks the ball away from SVSU and Mara MItchell picks it up for Ferris. Ferris misses a three point attempt from the top of the key. The rebound goes out of bounds and the Cardinals take possession. Kadyn Blanchard steals the ball for the Bulldogs. A Ferris fast break outlet pass sails out of bounds. SVSU misses a layup. The rebound goes out of bounds and Ferris gets the ball. SVSU’s defense forces a turnover when Ferris fails to inbound the ball in the required five seconds.
SVSU misses a three point shot from the wing. Saniaa Walker grabs the offensive rebound for the Cardinals. SVSU throws a pass out of bounds. Ferris reciprocates and throws a pass out of bounds. Aleshia Jones passes to Megan McCalla, who hits a layup to give SVSU its first two points of the second half. Ferris leads 45-36.
Ferris misses a three pointer from the top of the key. SVSU misses a three pointer from the corner. Ferris misses a fast break layup. DeShonna Day grabs the offensive rebound for the Bulldogs. Ferris misses a threeball from the wing and fouls on the rebound. DeShonna Day blocks an SVSU threeball from the wing. Aleshia Jones knocks the ball away from Ferris and creates a scrum. Saniaa Walker comes up with the ball for SVSU. Ferris knocks the ball out of bounds; SVSU gets it back. SVSU commits a shot clock violation. Mia Riley hits a twelve foot shoot off the dribble from the wing to give Ferris a 47-36 lead.
Megan McCalla passes the ball to Aleshia Jones, who hits a layup for the Cardinals. Ava Locklear steals the ball for SVSU. Megan McCalla drives across the lane and banks in a reverse hook/layup for SVUS. Mia Riley is fouled and hits one of her two free throws for Ferris. Lydia Meredith passes to Aleshia Jones, who throws in a threeball from the wing for SVSU. Ferris misses a thirty foot rushed shot at the buzzer.
(Basketball cliches can be interesting. I’m sure the Bulldog player was shooting at the basket, not at the buzzer. Oh well, maybe your Bleacher Denizen is just having a senior moment.)
After three quarters, Ferris holds a 48-43 lead.
Ferris inbounds the ball to open the fourth quarter. Mia Riley drives and hits a layup for the Bulldogs. Mya Hiram’s stellar defense forces SVSU to miss a layup. Elle Irwin passes to Mya Hiram, who is fouled on a layup and hits one of her two free throws to boost the Bulldogs to a 51-43 lead with 8:53 remaining in the contest.
Mia Riley steals the ball for the Bulldogs. Mya Hiram banks in a six foot shot from the side of the lane for Ferris. Megan McCalla passes to Lydia Meredith, who is fouled on a layup and hits one of her two free throws for SVSU. Mia Riley is fouled on a driving layup and hits two free throws to push Ferris to a 55-44 lead with 7:41 left on the clock.
SVSU throws a pass out of bounds. Ferris misses a fast break reverse layup. Claire Erickson knocks the ball away from SVSU, but the Cardinals are able to recover. SVSU is whistled for a three seconds violation. Ava Locklear blocks a Bulldog shot. Claire Erickson picks up the loose ball and hits a layup to to give Ferris a 57-44 lead.
Claire Erickson steals the ball for Ferris. Lydia Meredith hustles back and knocks the ball out of bounds to break up a Ferris fast break. Ferris retains possession. Kenzie Bowers drives and hits a layup for Ferris. Aleshia Jones hits a threeball from the wing for SVSU. Ferris throws a pass out of bounds. Aleshia gets a cross court pass to Beckham Holley, who hits a three point shot from the side to cut the Ferris lead to 59-50.
Ferris commits a traveling violation. SVSU misses a three pointer from the top of the key and fouls on the rebound. Kenzie Bowers passes to Kadyn Blanchard, who hits a jump shot from the free throw line for the Bulldogs. Aleshia Jones hits a twelve foot jumper off the dribble in the lane for SVSU. Ferris misses a three point shot from the corner. SVSU misses a three point shot from the side. Kadyn Blanchard is fouled on the rebound and hits two free throws to give Ferris a 63-52 lead with 3:40 to go.
SVSU misses a layup. Kenzie Bowers passes to Mia Riley, who hits a three pointer from the corner for Ferris. SVSU misses a layup. Ferris misses a sixteen foot shot off the dribble from the wing. Elle Irwin knocks the ball out of bounds; SVSU retains possession. SVSU misses an eight foot banked shot from the side. Ava Locklear hits a tipin for SVSU to trim the Ferris lead to 66-54.
Ferris commits an offensive foul. SVSU misses a threeball from the side. Aleshia Jones pulls down the offensive rebound for the Cardinals. SVSU misses a three point shot from the corner. Ferris is fouled on the rebound, but misses two free throws. With 1:16 left in the contest, the Ferris lead remains at 66-54.
Mia Riley grabs the offensive rebound for the Bulldogs. Ferris misses a layup; the rebound goes out of bounds and SVSU takes possession. Megan McCalla drives and hits a layup for SVSU. Kenzie Bowers tosses a long bomb to Mya Hiram, who hits a layup for the Bulldogs. Kenzie Bowers and Mia Riley stand tough in the lane and SVSU commits a charging foul. Kenzie Bowers drives and hits a layup for Ferris. Mya Hiram steals an SVSU pass as the final buzzer sounds.
Ferris wins this game by the final score of 70-56.
Megan McCalla led SVSU with 23 points and 5 rebounds. Aleshia Jones contributed 16 points and 8 rebounds. Beckham Hockley had 7 points. Lydia Meredith scored 5 points to go along with 4 rebounds, 2 assists, a block and a steal. Ava Locklear had 5 points, 9 rebounds, three assists, a block and a steal. Saniaa Walker had 3 steals and 2 assists. Maggie Keinsley had 3 rebounds. Lainey Yater and Mari Brink also played for the Cardinals.
Mia Riley had a great game with 19 points, 5 steals and 4 rebounds. Mya Hiram tossed in 16 points and had 7 rebounds as well as 2 steals. Kadyn Blanchard had 15 points, 7 rebounds, 7 steals and 6 assists. Kenzie Bowers had 7 points and 5 assists. Emma Schierbeek had 7 points.
Claire Erickson had 4 points, 2 rebounds and a steal. DeShonna Day had 2 points as well as 3 rebounds and a block. She played a lot of hustling defense while she was in there! Elle Irwin had 2 assists and 2 steals. Ally Schultz contributed a steal. Alyssa Wirth and Mara Mitchell also appeared in the game.