Moxley Scores Game Winner in Season Opener

ST. PAUL, Minn. – In a battle of top 25 teams, the No. 21-ranked Michigan Tech women's basketball team defeated No. 9 Concordia-St. Paul 83-81 on a layup by Kylie Moxley with less than five seconds left. The Golden Bears missed a 3-pointer at the buzzer and the Huskies won the season-opener at the Radisson Roseville Classic at the Gangelhoff Center.

Tied at 81, Paige Albi rebounded a Concordia miss and coach Kim Cameron called a timeout with 13 seconds left to draw up a play. Danielle Blake advanced the ball across the timeline and fed it inside to Moxley who buried a layup with 4.2 ticks left.

The home team called its last timeout after the bucket but Carissa Wolyniec couldn't make a game-winner from beyond the arc.

"It was an unbelievable team win," Tech coach Kim Cameron said. "We had people stepping up in every position after getting into early foul trouble. Everybody that we called on was truly ready to compete."

The Huskies held a 34-30 halftime lead and extended it to seven (46-39) early (15:08) in the second half after a pair of threes from Kate Glodowski and Kerry Gardner.

A back and forth second half battle ensued that saw the two teams combine for 100 points in the final 20:00.

"The game was so intense and so competitive," Cameron said. "You could just feel the tension in the second half. It was one of the best game's I've ever been a part of."

Tech held a 79-74 lead before back-to-back Concordia three-pointers gave the home team a one-point lead. Anika Whiting made one of two free throws and Moxley hit a layup to knot the game up at 81 with 1:17 left. Wolyniec missed a three with 24 seconds left and Albi rebounded to setup the game-winner

The Huskies had three players in double figures, led by Moxley with 20. Blake and Glodowski each scored 18. Glodowski drained 6-for-6 from the three-point line.

"The contributions from the players off the bench were better than anything I've ever seen," added Cameron. "I think it really proved that there are a lot of people ready to take on some big roles."

Concordia opened the game with an early lead and led by as many as 12 (23-11) midway through the first half (9:29). Tech used a 15-2 run to take its first lead (26-25) of the game with 3:42 left in opening half.

"You could clearly tell it was our first game in the first five minutes," said Cameron. "Kate brought us back and gave us a chance with her 3-point shooting."

Tech finished the game shooting 53 percent from the field (34-of-64) and 58 percent from 3-point territory, draining 11.

Concordia made 22 free throws compared to the Huskies four. Whiting had a game-high 24 points to lead the Golden Bears. Ameshia Kearney (18), Wolyniec (16) and Rachael Hansen (10) were also in double figures.

Tech continues play at the classic with a 4 p.m. game against Minnesota State Moorhead on Saturday (Nov. 16). The Dragons defeated UW-Parkside in the first game of the tournament.