Huskies Top Ursuline 81-67 Saturday
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | T | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Michigan Tech (2-0) | 20 | 17 | 27 | 17 | 81 |
|
Ursuline (0-2) | 15 | 20 | 14 | 18 | 67 |
PEPPER PIKE, Ohio – The Michigan Tech women's basketball team wrapped up an impressive opening weekend of the season with an 81-67 non-conference victory at Ursuline College Saturday afternoon. The Huskies outscored the Arrows 24-17 in the third quarter to create some separation, but had to keep the intensity up to hold on for the win. Tech outlasted Davis & Elkins on Friday 65-48 in the GMAC/GLIAC Challenge in the 2017-18 opener.
"We played at a very high level and we were challenged by a very good Ursuline team," Michigan Tech Head Coach Kim Cameron said. "We had to keep our intensity level high on every possession and we were able to do that. Kelli Guy had a great game for us today and Hannah Stoll and Sarah LewAllen were excellent defensively. Our bench gave us some very good minutes as well and I'm very proud of our overall effort. We played better today and this was another really good regional win."
Michigan Tech (2-0) struck quickly thanks to a pair of triples by senior guard Kelli Guy in the opening two minutes of the contest. Guy drilled the first off an assist by senior guard Lindsay Winter with 8:49 on the clock and then Winter found Guy open again for the second. Meanwhile, the Huskies' defense prevented Ursuline from cracking the scoreboard until the 6:39 mark of the first quarter.
The Huskies eventually built a ten-point lead at 13-3 after another trey from Guy found the mark about midway through the first period. However, the Arrows began to chip away at their deficit during the next few minutes. They climbed back to within two points at 13-11 and following a pair of Tech buckets by senior Hannah Stoll and senior Brenna Heise, Camille Gist brought Ursuline to within two points again at 17-15 with 1:22 to play in the first. Guy then capped the quarter to give the Huskies a 20-15 lead going into the second.
The second quarter was a seesaw battle back and forth between Tech and Ursuline. The Huskies managed to stay in front for most of the quarter, but the Arrows deadlocked the game multiple times as the teams traded baskets. Each time Ursuline would pull even, the Huskies managed to slip back ahead. Stoll came up with a number of clutch points in the second period along with Michelle LaFave and Lindsay Winter.
The Huskies carried a slim 37-35 edge into the locker room at halftime and came out strong to begin the third. Michigan Tech reeled off an 11-0 run to go up 48-35 with 6:49 to play in the third period. Junior Elizabeth Kelliher sank a pair of free throws to start the scoring burst and also picked up layup during the span. Guy had a triple and a jumper while Winter cashed in a layup to help build a cushion for the Huskies. Michigan Tech held a double digit gap for the remainder of the quarter and with 41 seconds to go in the third, Kelliher gave the Huskies their largest lead at that juncture 64-49 on a layup.
The Arrows kept battling though and sliced the Huskies advantage down to nine points at 66-57 on a jumper by Laney Lewis with 6:57 to play. However, senior Brenna Heise answered for Tech with a layup at the 5:33 mark to make it 68-57 and from there Ursuline trailed by double digits the rest of the way.
Guy matched a career high with 25 points to power the Huskies offense on Saturday afternoon. Guy connected on 9 of 12 shots from the field and was 7 for 10 from three-point range. She also dished out eight assists and grabbed four rebounds. Stoll followed Guy with a new career high of 16 points while hauling down eight rebounds. Kelliher contributed 12 points, Heise had 11 points, and LaFave matched a career high with 10 points. Winter tossed in seven points and led the team on the glass with 12 rebounds and eight assists.
As a team, the Huskies connected on 34 of 72 shots from the field (47.2%), were 9 of 25 from three-point range (36.0%), and 4 of 5 at the free throw line (80.0%). Tech had a slight edge in rebounding 38-37 and recorded 24 total assists.
Laney Lewis had a game high 26 points for the Arrows followed by Camryn Hill with 24 points. Both players ended up with double doubles by way of 12 rebounds each. Ursuline shot at a 23 of 63 clip from the field (36.5%), were 2 of 14 from behind the arc (14.3%), and 19 of 23 at the free throw line (82.6%).
The Huskies will be back in action on Thursday and Friday next week when they travel to Minnesota State Moorhead and Minnesota Crookston for two more non-conference games. The tip-off for Thursday game is slated for 8 p.m. EST and Friday's game is scheduled for 7 p.m. EST.