Huskies Power Past Lake Superior State 77-47

• Box Score

SAULT STE. MARIE, Mich. – The Michigan Tech women's basketball team pulled away for a 77-47 Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference victory at Lake Superior State University Saturday afternoon. The Huskies used a dominating second quarter in which they outscored the Lakers 22-7 to take command of the game.

"I really thought our second unit played well and did everything that we asked of them today," Head Coach Kim Cameron said. "They made a lot of great plays defensively and helped us go on our run in the second quarter. Our defense is driving our offense and when we are able to make plays on the defensive end of the floor that's when our offense has been most effective. Overall, it was a great game and great week to get a couple of road victories in the conference."

Michigan Tech (14-2, 8-1 GLIAC) started the game quickly on Saturday with the first seven points to grab the momentum. Senior Lindsay Winter fired in the first two points of the afternoon on a mid-range jumper to get the Huskies rolling. Senior Kelli Guy followed with a triple and then tacked on two more points with a jumper at the 7:47 mark to make it a 7-0 score. The Huskies ended up leading Lake Superior State (0-13, 0-9 GLIAC) from start to finish after trailing most of the way at Ferris State.

The Lakers recovered a bit from Tech's fast start and pulled to within two points at 11-9 on a Tamara Novic layup with two minutes left in the first quarter. Tech countered with back to back field goals from sophomore Hannah Hobson and junior Michelle LaFave to push the lead out to six points at 15-9. Right before the end of the quarter, Winter beat the buzzer with a layup to keep the Huskies ahead by six at 19-13.

The defenses dominated the first four minutes of the second peiord, with each offense registering just one field goal. Leading 21-15 with just over six minutes to play in the half, LaFave connected on consecutive jumpers in the lane to give the Huskies their first double digit lead at 25-15. Novic answered with a layup for Lake Superior State at the 4:46 mark, but a 16-0 scoring run put the momentum squarely on the side of Michigan Tech.

Winter dialed in back to back triples and then dropped in a layup to make it 33-17 with just under two minutes to go in the second. Senior Hannah Stoll converted two free throws and a steal from freshman Cassidy Trotter setup another trey by Winter to extend the advantage to 38-17. Stoll then swiped the ball away from Alexandria Kohn which led to a conventional three-point play by senior Brenna Heise to close out the first half scoring for the Huskies. The Tech defense was crucial in the run, forcing multiple Laker turnovers and tough shot attempts.

Rebecca Villanueva connected from behind the arc to end the second quarter for Lake Superior State, making the score 41-20 at the break. The Lakers were then able to draw to within 15 points at 43-28 on a layup from Natalie Peterson at the 6:39 mark of third period. The Huskies called timeout to regroup and the team responded. Hobson got Tech back on the board with a layup, LaFave picked up two more points in the paint, and Hobson drilled a triple to make it 50-28 with 4:39 to go in the third. Hobson's basket was setup by another steal, this time by LaFave. The Huskies were able to keep the Lakers at arm's length the rest of the afternoon.

Six Tech players generated 10 or more points in Saturday afternoon's win, led by Winter who went 7 of 10 from the field on the way to 18 points and seven rebounds. Hobson and Guy followed with 12 points while senior Elisa Jurmu collected 11 points. Heise along with LaFave chipped in 10 points in the victory. The point total for Hobson was a new career high. Trotter closed the contest with a game and career high six assists.

As a team, the Huskies were successful on 30 of 55 shot attempts from the field (54.5%), were 12 of 21 from behind the arc (57.1%), and 5 of 5 at the free throw line (100.0%). Tech out-rebounded the Lakers 26-18 and forced 13 turnovers.

Novic and Kohn guided the Lakers with 11 points and four rebounds each Saturday afternoon. Lake Superior State made 18 of 44 shots from the field (40.9%), were 2 of 10 from three-point range (20.0%), and 9 of 16 from the free throw line (56.3%).

The Huskies will be on the road nest week for two more GLIAC games starting Thursday night at Wayne State. Tech will then wrap up the four game road trip on Saturday at Davenport. Thursday's tip-off against the Warriors is slated for 5:30 p.m.