Huskies Close Road Trip with Loss at Saginaw Valley St.

• Box Score

SAGINAW, Mich. – The Michigan Tech women's basketball team closed the four game road trip with a tough 79-67 Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference loss at Saginaw Valley State on Saturday. The Huskies went toe to toe with the Cardinals through two quarters, but the game turned in the third when SVSU outscored Tech 22-10.

"This was a tough loss today for us on the road," Michigan Tech Head Coach Kim Cameron said. "We had a really good first half, but came out flat and weren't ready to play in the third quarter. We lost possessions with some turnovers and then things got away from us. We have to regroup this week and get ourselves back on track starting Thursday against Northwood."

Saginaw Valley State (12-3, 8-1 GLIAC) opened the game Saturday on a mini 4-0 run when Halee Nieman connected on two free throws and added a layup within the first minute of the contest. Junior Sarah LewAllen countered with a layup on a drive to the basket and then redshirt junior Brenna Heise knocked down a jumper to tie the score at 4-4 with 7:48 left in the first quarter.

Senior Morgan Anderson gave Michigan Tech (10-4, 6-3 GLIAC) their first lead at 9-6 on a triple with 6:08 on the clock and from there the two teams traded baskets through the remainder of the first period. The Huskies held the lead on three separate occasions in the first quarter, but Katelyn Carriere gave the Cardinals a 21-19 edge going into the second quarter.

Heise tied the score again at 21-21 sixteen seconds into the second frame on a jumper with redshirt junior Kelli Guy lending a hand with an assist. SVSU then got a triple from Nieman followed by a jumper from Carriere to go up 26-21. Trailing 28-24 with 6:43 left in the second period, the Huskies reeled off six straight points to regain the edge.

Anderson delivered a couple of jump shots and sophomore Elizabeth Kelliher cashed in a pair of free throws to make it a 30-28 score with 5:02 to go until the break. Carriere put the Cardinals on top again at 35-33 with a jumper at the 1:15 mark, but junior Hannah Stoll beat the buzzer on a jumper to deadlock the game again at 35-35. Tech forced a turnover and then the offense worked the ball to Stoll for the final points of the half.

The back and forth pattern of the game continued until late in the third when the Cardinals swung the momentum in their favor. With 3:48 to play in the quarter, Guy tied the contest at 43-43 for Tech on a jumper. Unfortunately, the Huskies would get only one more basket for the rest of the quarter. SVSU took advantage and closed the quarter with a 14-2 run. Abby Schlicher got things rolling on a jump shot followed by two free throws by Duffy and the Cardinals didn't relinquish the lead the rest of the afternoon.

SVSU carried a 57-45 advantage into the fourth and added six more points on back to back three-point buckets to build a 63-45 lead with 9:16 to play. Tech closed the gap to nine points at 71-62 late in the fourth on two field goals from Anderson and a triple by Heise, but the Cardinals kept their distance with eight free throws in the final seconds.

Anderson powered the Huskies with 19 points, four rebounds, and four assists followed by Guy and Heise with 13 points apiece. Heise hauled down a team best eight rebounds while Kelliher added seven points, six rebounds, and four blocked shots. Stoll wrapped up the game with eight points and three rebounds by going 4 for 8 from the field.

As a team, Tech connected on 27 of 63 shots from the field (42.9%), they were 8 of 17 from three-point range (47.1%), and 5 of 7 at the free throw line. The Huskies also had eight blocked shots in Saturday's contest.

Carriere had a game high 25 points and eight assists for the Cardinals followed by Emily Wendling with 17 points and 12 rebounds. Francesca Coury chipped in 11 points off the bench and rounded out the double digit scorers for SVSU. The Cardinals were successful on 25 of 57 shot attempts from the floor, were 7 of 16 from behind the arc, and 22 of 25 at the free throw line (88.0%). The Cardinals had the advantage in the rebounding department 40-29.

The Huskies will look to bounce back on Thursday night when they return to Houghton to battle Northwood in a GLIAC showdown at the SDC Wood Gym. The tip-off is slated for 5:30 p.m.