The Ferris State University women's basketball squad captured the school's first NCAA Division II Midwest Regional Championship on Monday night, knocking off top-seeded rival Grand Valley State 49-46 and heading to the Elite Eight round of the national tournament.

The Bulldogs beating the rival Lakers in GVSU’s home arena before a boisterous crowd to move to 25-5 on the year. It marked Ferris State’s second win over GVSU in three tries this year – and ended with players, coaches and alumni cutting down the nets.

The Ferris State men’s team will try to keep pace with the women in the Elite Eight with a Midwest Regional Conference Championship game against Lake Superior State on Tuesday in Indianapolis.

The women’s basketball NCAA Division II Elite Eight is set for March 25-29 in St. Joseph, Mo., and matchups along with game times will be announced soon by the NCAA following the completion of regional final play on Tuesday.

The Bulldogs, who topped the defending champions in the prior round, took a slim halftime lead in the back-and-forth game and led by as many as 11 points in the third period before the Lakers battled back. From there, Ferris State held onto the lead down the stretch and came away with the three-point win.

The Bulldogs got 13 points off the bench from sophomore Mya Hiram along with 12 points from junior guard Kadyn Blanchard. Seniors Chloe Idoni and Mallory McCartney both added eight points each in a balanced Bulldog effort.

Ferris State shot 36.5 percent from the floor and was six-of-15 from long range along with five-of-10 at the free throw stripe. The Bulldogs also held the Lakers to only 30.2 percent shooting with GVSU finishing six-of-25 from beyond the arc and eight-of-nine at the line.

The Lakers won the rebounding battle 35-34, but also had 15 turnovers compared to 11 for FSU. Ferris State tallied 22 points inside the paint compared to 20 for the Lakers. Ferris State also had 10 steals in the game.

With the win, the women’s team claimed its first-ever regional championship as the appearance in the final was only its second in school history and first since 2007.