Huskies Cap Weekend with 76-62 Win over Concordia St. Paul
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | T | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Concordia-St. Paul (1-2) | 20 | 15 | 11 | 16 | 62 |
|
Michigan Tech (3-0) | 17 | 16 | 25 | 18 | 76 |
HOUGHTON, Mich. – The Michigan Tech women's basketball team remained unbeaten in 2016-17 after topping Concordia St. Paul 76-62 on Saturday at the SDC Gymnasium. The Huskies changed the complexion of the game in the third quarter, outscoring the Golden Bears 25-11 during that stretch. Tech opened the weekend with a 74-53 win over Minnesota-Crookston Friday night.
"This was an awesome weekend for us," Michigan Tech Head Coach Kim Cameron said. "Concordia St. Paul challenged us in every way that they could have. They are so fast, so explosive, and they can score in bunches so we were really challenged in every aspect of the game. I thought we really stepped up in the second half. In the first half, I thought our defense needed to improve going into halftime and coming back out to start the third quarter. In the second half, I thought we buckled down and exploded out of the gate which helped us turn things around in the third quarter."
Tech (3-0) trailed for most of the first quarter, but despite a slow start stayed within striking distance of Concordia St. Paul (1-2). After falling behind 5-2, the Huskies reeled off four straight points courtesy of buckets from senior Morgan Anderson and sophomore Elizabeth Kelliher to grab a 6-5 lead with 6:34 remaining in the first period.
Mishayla Jones gave the Golden Bears their largest lead of the quarter at 15-9 on a layup at the three-minute mark. Junior Sarah LewAllen sank a triple to put the Huskies ahead again at 17-16 with 1:17 to play in the first period, but a 4-0 run to close the first frame by Concordia St. Paul made it a 20-17 score with 10 minutes in the books.
The Golden Bears hit back to back field goals to begin the second quarter, but Anderson dialed up a triple to cut the deficit to 24-20 with 8:28 to go in the half. The Huskies kept it a two possession game until senior Brenna Heise dropped in a jumper to knot the score at 31-31 with 3:42 to play until the break. Concordia St. Paul recorded the next two field goals to go up 35-31, but sophomore Michelle LaFave gave Tech a bit of momentum going into the locker room with the final bucket of the half.
Both teams traded baskets through the first two minutes of the third quarter and with 7:31 on the clock Concordia St. Paul was still clinging to a 42-41 lead. Tech then took control of the game with a 15-2 run to go up 56-44 with just under two minutes left in the third period. Anderson got things rolling with a triple followed by baskets from Kelliher, Heise, and LaFave during the stretch. Heise closed the quarter with a jumper, giving the Huskies a 58-46 lead with the fourth quarter on the horizon.
The Golden Bears would pull to within five points at 58-53 with 7:03 to play, but that's as close as they would get the rest of the way. Kelliher converted three consecutive fields goals to create a healthy separation at 64-53 with 5:20 on the clock. Anderson tossed in four free throws and senior Kelli Guy added a pair at the charity stripe in the final minute to seal the 76-62 win.
Anderson powered the Tech offense with 23 points followed by Heise with 19 points and Kelliher with 16 points. Heise and LewAllen notched a team best six rebounds apiece while Anderson dished out seven assists. Kelliher picked up three blocked shots and came up with three steals.
As a team, the Huskies were 30 of 65 from the field (46.2%), 9 of 23 from three-point range (39.1%), and 7 for 8 at the free throw line (87.5%). The defense forced 15 turnovers which led to 13 points while the offense lost the ball just five times.
Anna Schmitt had 23 points to pace Concordia St. Paul followed by Lindsay Dorr who chipped in 14 points off the bench. Kyrah Fredenburg added seven points and a game high 18 rebounds for the Golden Bears on Saturday. Concordia St. Paul ended the day connecting on 25 of 56 shots from the field (44.6%).
Tech will be back in action on Saturday when the team heads to Southern Indiana for a two-day tournament. The Huskies will play Bellarmine on Saturday at 1 p.m. followed by a 3:30 p.m. contest on Sunday against Southern Indiana.
