Huskies Fall at NMU in Regular Season Finale

MARQUETTE, Mich. – The Michigan Tech women's basketball team fell 67-59 at Northern Michigan on Thursday (Feb. 27) to wrap up the regular season. The Huskies moved into a tie for second place with the Wildcats in the GLIAC North standings with a 16-6 record.

Tech and Northern are also tied with Ashland for second place in the overall GLIAC standings. The GLIAC tie-breaking procedure has NMU as the No. 2 seed, Tech as the No. 3 and Ashland as the No. 4, for the upcoming GLIAC Tournament. Tech will host either Saginaw Valley State or Northwood on March 5 in the GLIAC Quarterfinal at the SDC Gym.

Tech (18-8) opened the second half on an 11-2 run to cut a 16-point halftime lead down to seven with 16:21 remaining. Danielle Blake fueled the run with back-to-back layups and six points in the run. Paige Albi also added a jumper and Mackenzie Perttu buried a 3-pointer.

The Wildcats quickly took their double-digit lead back scoring four straight and then expanded it to 13 with 12:34 left.

The Huskies again answered and scored seven straight points for a six-point game after layups by Albi, Perttu and Blake. They then missed their next seven shots and trailed by 10.

NMU (19-7) regained its largest lead of the game at 16 with 2:36 on the clock. Seven points in a row by Tech cut the lead back to single digits, but the 'Cats made seven free throws down the stretch.

"We can't start the way that we did and get down by 16 in the first half," Tech coach Kim Cameron said. "We've done it multiple times this year, but we just haven't learned."

The Huskies shot only 25 percent in the first half, while the Wildcats shot 59.1 percent and outscored Tech 20-4 in the paint.

"We had to hold everyone accountable at halftime and get Dani and Mackenzie going," added Cameron. "We also tried a couple different things on defense and started to get in some passing lanes."

Tech finished the game shooting 35 percent (21-for-60) in the game and made 7-of-19 (36.8 percent) from 3-point territory.

Albi scored a career-high 21 points, making 8-for-14 shots from the field that included three 3-pointers. She also added seven rebounds and three assists in 39 minutes of play.

Blake scored 16 points on 7-for-14 shooting, while Perttu was also in double figures with 11 points. Kerry Gardner, Jillian Ritchie and Kelcey Traynoff all scored three points.

NMU made 44.4 percent (20-for-45) from the field and 3-for-11 (27.3 percent) from three. The 'Cats scored 12 more free throws than the Huskies, making 24-of-29 attempts (82.8 percent). Northern also held a 43-25 rebounding advantage.

Alyssa Colla scored a game-high 25 points for NMU with 10 coming from the charity stripe. Abbey DeBruin (21) and Annie Rubendunst (10) were also in double figures.

Tech begins postseason play at 5:30 p.m. on March 5 at the SDC Gym. It will be the seventh year in a row that the Huskies open the playoffs at home.