Huskies Topple Saginaw Valley 82-57 on Senior Day
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | T | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Saginaw Valley State (19-5, 15-3 GLIAC) | 9 | 18 | 13 | 17 | 57 |
|
Michigan Tech (17-6, 13-5 GLIAC) | 20 | 24 | 15 | 23 | 82 |
HOUHGTON, Mich. – The Michigan Tech women's basketball team powered past Saginaw Valley State 82-57 for a Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference victory Saturday afternoon on Senior Day in the SDC Wood Gym. The Huskies held the Cardinals to nine first quarter points and never looked back on their way to the win.
"I thought we had an excellent performance today," Michigan Tech Head Coach Kim Cameron said. "We came out strong, I thought we were steady, and Kelli's [Guy] shooting really helped to get us through the first half and ignited our offense. The part we paid the most attention to in the first half was our defense and to hold a high scoring team like Saginaw Valley State to a single digit quarter was huge. That set the tone for the game and I was happy with how we finished it."
Saginaw Valley State (19-5, 15-3 GLIAC) had the upper hand early in the first quarter, but it didn't stay that way for long. Emily Wendling put the Cardinals on the board with a layup to start the contest, but Michigan Tech (17-6, 13-5 GLIAC) quickly countered on a triple by junior Lindsay Winter to make it a 3-2 score. SVSU then strung together five consecutive points to build what would be their largest lead of the afternoon at 7-3 with 6:22 to go on the first quarter clock.
The Huskies fought back with nine straight points of their own to grab an advantage they would never relinquish at 12-7. Winter got the scoring burst rolling with a layup followed by a triple from senior Morgan Anderson and back to back field goals courtesy of junior Hannah Stoll. Hannah Settingsgaard fired in a jumper for SVSU to make it a 12-9 contest a few moments later, but the remainder of the scoring in the opening 10 minutes belonged to Tech.
Redshirt junior Kelli Guy lifted in a triple on the next possession for the Huskies followed by a layup from Anderson after Isabella O'Brien secured one her career high nine rebounds on the offensive end of the floor to keep the possession alive. Winter then capped the first period for Tech with another connection from behind the arc, giving the Huskies a 20-9 advantage going into the second quarter.
Redshirt junior Brenna Heise commenced the second quarter for Tech with a jumper before the Cardinals went on a bit of a run to close the gap down to single digits at 22-15 on a Wendling layup with 8:11 on the clock. The Huskies' lead fluctuated between seven and 11 points during the next four minutes until a strong close to the quarter expanded the advantage to 44-27 at halftime.
Leading 30-23 with just under five minutes on the clock, Winter dialed in a trey to boost the edged to 33-23. Guy followed suit with another of her six first half three-point baskets and then Stoll knocked down a jumper to make it a 38-23 game with 2:54 to go in the half. Guy tacked on six more points before the buzzer sounded to close out an outstanding 20 minutes of basketball for the Huskies.
Tech was red hot from behind the arc during the opening two periods, sinking 10 of 13 attempts from long distance, which enabled them to build the big lead. The Huskies continued to distance themselves from the Cardinals throughout the second half and never let them back within striking distance. Redshirt freshman Abbie Botz gave the Huskies their largest lead of the contest at 82-55 with one minute left in the fourth quarter on a pair of free throws.
Anderson powered the Huskies with 20 points and went a perfect 8 for 8 at the free throw line in the win. Anderson needs just four points to reach 1,000 for her career at Tech. Guy ended the contest with 18 points thanks to finding the mark on 6 of 8 shots from behind the three-point arc. Winter followed with 17 points and Stoll notched a season high 11 points in Saturday's victory. O'Brien and Heise both grabbed nine rebounds and Anderson dealt out six assists. Sophomore Elizabeth Kelliher chipped in seven points and the GLIAC's leader in blocks added three more to the stat sheet against SVSU.
As a team, MTU made good on 27 of 59 shots from the field (45.8%), they were 11 of 19 from three-point range (57.9%), and 17 of 20 at the free throw line (85.0%). The Huskies out-rebounded SVSU 41-27, created 15 points off turnovers, and had 19 second chance points thanks to 15 offensive rebounds.
Saginaw Valley State was paced by Wendling who dropped in 27 points while hauling down six rebounds. Settingsgaard also reached double figures in scoring with 11 points on Saturday. The cardinals ended the day 19 of 55 from the field (34.5%), 1 of 12 from three-point range (8.3%), and 18 of 21 at the charity stripe (85.7%).
The Huskies will be back on the road Thursday when they head to Grand Valley State for another GLIAC contest. Tech is tied with the Lakers for second in the GLIAC North Division Standings and has clinched a spot in the GLIAC Tournament. The tip-off is slated for 6 p.m.
