No. 8 Huskies Fall in Overtime 96-90 at Northwood

MIDLAND, Mich. — Michigan Tech suffered its second loss of the season tonight at Northwood 96-90, and it came in overtime. NU's Emily Kutch made a 17-foot baseline jumper at the end of regulation to send the game to overtime, where the Timberwolves outscored the Huskies 19-13.

Tech used an 8-0 run to take a 77-69 lead with two minutes to play in regulation. It held onto the eight-point margin under a minute before Maddy Seely buried back-to-back triples on either side of a Tech turnover. With six seconds differential between the clocks, Northwood elected not to foul.

Morgan Anderson used almost all the shot clock, then just missed a short jumper in the paint. The ball was rebounded, raced up the floor and dished to Kutch who hit the jumper at the buzzer.

In overtime, Tech hit the first basket before six straight Northwood points. Ritchie had back-to-back layups with two minutes left, but the hosts had the answer each time. They then made 7-of-8 free throws to ice the game.

"We just can't outscore teams. That's not our game," said Tech coach Kim Cameron. "Our defense had to be better, and it just wasn't."

Jillian Ritchie posted a career-high 35 points and Danielle Blake added 28, but Tech couldn't slow down a hot Northwood offense, which finished at 50 percent from the floor en route 77 points in regulation. The Huskies had given up an average of 50 points the previous five games.

Tech's 13-game win streak came to an end with the loss, which was the second in as many years at the Bennett Sports Center. The Huskies (22-2 overall, 18-2 GLIAC) maintain a one-game lead over Wayne State (21-3, 17-3 GLIAC) in the race for home court advantage throughout the GLIAC Tournament.

Tech gave up 39 points in the first half, but held an eight-point lead at half (47-39) with hot outside shooting. The Black and Gold made 17-of-30 from the field including 8-of-14 treys in the opening 20 minutes.

Northwood pulled within three in the first three minutes of the second half and eventually took a four-point lead with 10 minutes to play.

Tech battled down the stretch to get to back to 69-all with 5:33 remaining. The Huskies then got triples from Kelli Guy and Ritchie and a two foul shots from Blake for a 77-69 advantage. The visitors got seven consecutive stops to build and maintain the eight-point lead, but three straight buckets by Northwood in the final 49 seconds tied the game.

"We executed poorly down the stretch," said Cameron. "I thought we got a little soft expecting to get some calls instead of playing as hard as we could and it cost us."

Ritchie's near-school record effort came on 14-of-22 shooting including 7-of-12 from 3-point range. Blake, with a season-high 28 points, made 9-of-21 from the field and 9-of-11 from the foul line.

Free throws proved to be critical as Northwood made 23-of-24 including all 13 of its attempts in regulation. Tech made 14-of-22 (12-of-19 in regulation).

Northwood (17-9, 13-7 GLIAC) was paced by Seeley's 24 points.

Michigan Tech has two games left in the regular season. The next is Saturday (Feb. 21) at Lake Superior State. Tipoff is set for 1 p.m.

Notes: Tech's last overtime game came at home in the GLIAC Tournament Quarterfinal a year ago. The Huskies prevailed 69-63 over Saginaw Valley State … Ritchie's previous career high for points was 23 … The school record for points in a game is held by Sam Hoyt, who had 37 vs. Northwood on Feb. 25, 2012.