Lenz Posts Career-High in Road Win at Saginaw Valley Saturday

SAGINAW, Mich. – Michigan Tech women's basketball junior guard Isabella Lenz scored a career-high 23 points to complete its first GLIAC road weekend sweep in a 70-58 win at Saginaw Valley on Saturday afternoon.

Michigan Tech moves to 14-10 overall and 10-6 in the GLIAC, while Saginaw Valley falls to 9-18 overall and 6-11 in the loop. The Huskies hold down the fourth spot in the league standings with Saturday's win.

"It's awesome for Bella to have scored a career-high," head coach Sam Clayton said. "I saw a lot of urgency–there were still too many turnovers but against that team–that pressure's like crazy in the half and full court. It wasn't too bad. I was happy to see our growth from the last time we played them–we were stronger with the ball and got some good backcuts. I feel like we're playing well and if you take out the Northern game we've been playing well and our offense has been really efficient."

The Huskies led from wire-to-wire with Isabella Lenz opening the scoring with a 3-pointer 10 seconds into the game. By the 5:06 mark, the Black & Gold's lead would extend to 10, with Lenz again connecting from long range to make it 12-2. 

Saginaw Valley clawed back in three minutes, stringing together an 11-2 run with a triple by Emma Dziezgowski, making it a one-point game (14-13) with 2:03 to play. 

The Huskies then answered with a 7-0 run to close the quarter with a 21-13 lead, with Katelyn Meister scoring four straight points for MTU on a jump shot in the paint and two free throws.

Tech's largest lead came at the 7:45 mark of the second quarter when the Huskies went up 28-15 from a 3-pointer by Meister. 

Alyssa Wypych scored six points coming off the bench in the second quarter to help the Huskies hold a nine-point advantage heading into halftime, 36-27. 

Michigan Tech sustained a double-digit lead for the majority of the second half, with the Cardinals cutting the lead to seven points with 4:16 to play in the fourth quarter. However, the Huskies would get two free throws from Lenz and an additional free throw from Maja Kozlowska and a triple from Tessa Leece with 2:25 to play, keeping a double-digit lead. Aleshia Jones scored the final point with 1:56 to play, allowing the Huskies to cruise to a 70-58 victory. 

The Huskies shot over 50 percent, following up Thursday's recording-breaking shooting percentage by shooting 51.1 percent. Kozlowska continues to make strides, finishing with seven points and seven rebounds in 19 minutes of action. 

Lenz led three Huskies in double-digit scoring with 23 points, as Katelyn Meister and Alyssa Wypych chipped in 13 and 12 points, respectively. Alex Rondorf controlled the glass with a game-leading nine rebounds to go with six points.

Megan McCalla scored a team-leading 18 points, while Aleshia Jones and Saniaa Walker grabbed a team-high five boards.

Up Next

The Huskies return home to wrap up the regular season next week, welcoming Davenport and Grand Valley State to the SDC Gymnasium for games on Thursday and Saturday.