Tech Women’s Basketball Victorious in Season Opener

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HOUGHTON, Mich. – The Michigan Tech women's basketball team saw three Huskies in double-figure scoring in the 76-57 season-opening win against William Jewell on day one of the GLIAC/GLVC Crossover at the SDC Gymnasium.

"We're happy to get a win to start the season," We didn't know what was going to happen with William Jewell–they got a new head coach and it was pretty evident in the first quarter--we didn't know how we were guarding certain actions, but I thought our girls adjusted well after and we were able to slow them down in the second and third quarter.

"I thought Bella and Kate had big games for us, making big shots and being able to create with their pressure–I was happy with our performance."

The Huskies open the season with a 1-0 record, while the Cardinals begin the 2023-24 campaign 0-1.

Isabella Lenz made her presence known in the first quarter, scoring 10 of her team-leading 20 points in the opening frame. Freshman Alyssa Wypych made her first career start for the Black & Gold, also connecting from deep halfway through the first quarter to give the Huskies its biggest lead of the game at 14-8.

The Huskies played lock-down defense in the second quarter, holding the Cardinals to eight points on 4-of-15 from the field and 0-of-6 from long range. Katelyn Meister accounted for seven of her 14 points in the second quarter, scoring seven consecutive points for the Huskies before halftime. Meister's takeover came at the perfect time, allowing MTU's lead to swell to 34-24 before Sara Dax made it a 12-point game heading into halftime.

Michigan Tech scored on their first three shots to open the second half, with Sara Dax connecting on a jump shot and layup with a Lenz jumper between the two baskets. 

The Huskies scored a quarter-high 22 points in the third quarter, with freshman Brittney Mislivecek and Maja Kozlowska scoring their first points of the season in the frenzy.

William Jewell was held to 5-of-14 from the field while the Huskies shot 56.3 percent on 9-of-16 to enter the final frame with the largest lead of the game at 58-38.

Wypych, who played 31 minutes in her career-opener, went 2-for-3 from 3-point range in the fourth quarter to cap her first game with 14 points. Senior guard Meister added three free throws and a layup to bring her to 16 points on the game.

The Huskies reserves chipped in for 11 points, with Lydia Schaible going 2-for-2 from the charity stripe and Tessa Leece connecting on a 3-pointer in the fourth quarter before the final buzzer sounded, seeing Michigan Tech win 76-57. Leece also grabbed a career-high five rebounds in 25 minutes of action.

Despite the Black & Gold amassing 15 turnovers compared to the Cardinals 7, the Huskies pulled down 17 offensive rebounds paired with 34 defensive rebounds.

Lenz led the Huskies offensively with 20 points, while Meister (16 points) and Wypych (14 points) also scored in double-digits. Rondorf had a team-high seven rebounds, three of which were on the offensive end. 

The Cardinals were led by Shannon Ayden with 23 points while Emree Zars collected a team-leading six rebounds.

Up Next

The Huskies conclude the GLIAC/GLVC Crossover on Saturday (Nov. 11) facing Lewis at 6 p.m.