Huskies Surge Past Lake Superior State
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | T | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Lake Superior State (4-14, 2-9 GLIAC) | 11 | 17 | 12 | 11 | 51 |
|
Michigan Tech (12-4, 8-3 GLIAC) | 15 | 22 | 19 | 17 | 73 |
HOUGHTON, Mich. – The Michigan Tech women's basketball team locked down a 73-51 Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference victory against Lake Superior State University Saturday afternoon in the SDC Wood Gym. The Huskies closed the second quarter with a 7-0 run to create some much needed space after a very tightly contested first and second periods.
"I thought we had a great day overall," Michigan Tech Head Coach Kim Cameron said. "I thought our starters did their job and our bench played well today too. We were able to get everybody in which is only going to help our team get better. Isabella O'Brien played great for us today inside. We were looking for somebody who could come in and help us get a stop against their post players. She had a couple of good baskets for us on offense, but her defense today was outstanding. Another big key today was closing the second quarter strong which gave us a huge boost going into the third quarter."
Michigan Tech (12-4, 8-3 GLIAC) never trailed at any point, recording the first five points to open the game. Redshirt junior Kelli Guy got the Huskies going with a triple followed by a steal from senior Morgan Anderson that setup of a layup courtesy of sophomore Elizabeth Kelliher. Redshirt junior Brenna Heise was credited with the assist on the play.
However, Lake Superior State (4-14, 2-9 GLIAC) managed to stay on Tech's heels and never fell behind by more than two possessions throughout the first period. Heise put the Huskies up 15-9 with 52 seconds left in the first quarter, but the Lakers would counter with two points on the other end of the floor right before the buzzer when Rachel Novotny dropped in a layup. LSSU pulled even closer on a 3-point bucket by Mackenzie Edwards to start the second, cutting the Tech edge to 15-14.
Heise then generated two key shots for the Huskies on back to back possessions to keep Tech ahead after the Lakers had climbed to within one point twice. Guy gave the Huskies a six-point cushion again at 22-16 with 6:42 left in the second on a triple from the wing, following the second of Heise's two field goals.
Lake Superior State cut the gap down to two three more times, including a 30-28 score with 1:50 to go until the break. A few seconds later, Heise would rise to the challenge again for the Huskies by dialing in another 16-foot jumper with 1:36 left on the clock. Heise's field goal sparked the 7-0 scoring burst to wrap up the second period which culminated on an Anderson jumper as time expired. Heise got the assist on a quick pass off the inbounds play, managing to direct the ball to Anderson within a 1.8 second time frame. Anderson accounted for the other three points as well thanks to triple with one minute to go.
Michigan Tech didn't waste any time expanding on the 37-28 lead they had at halftime as Kelliher dropped in two points off an offensive rebound in the first minute of the third quarter. Valerie Meissner brought the Lakes to within single digits again at 39-31 on a triple, but once again the Huskies had an answer with four straight points. Junior Lindsay Winter drove to the basket for a layup and then converted two shots at the free throw line to make it a 43-31 score.
Tech maintained a double digit lead for the rest of the afternoon and went up by as many as 24 points late in the fourth quarter. The Huskies separated themselves from the Lakers by 20 points at 62-42 on a Heise layup with 7:05 left in the fourth and then built the 24-point gap at 73-49 on a triple by freshman Hannah Hobson. Isabella O'Brien also had a couple of big buckets in the paint during the final moments of the second half.
Heise powered the Huskies offense on Saturday with 18 points by going 8 of 11 from the field and 2 for 2 at the free throw line. Anderson followed with 17 points and a team best seven assists while Guy rounded out the double digit scorers with 11 points. Heise, Guy, and Kelliher shared the team rebounding lead with four boards apiece with Kelliher chipping in eight points, four steals, and two blocked shots.
As a team, Tech converted 30 of 63 shots from the field (47.6%), were 8 of 18 from three-point range (44.4%), and 5 for 5 at the free throw line (100%). The Huskies' defense forced 17 turnovers by the Lakers and converted them into 20 points. Tech also had 24 points in the paint and dished out 17 assists.
Edwards led Lake Superior State on Saturday with 14 points, six rebounds, and six assists followed by Novotny and Meissner with 10 points each. The Lakers made good on 21 of 49 shots from the field (42.9%), were 6 of 16 from three-point range (37.5%), and 3 of 6 at the free throw line (50.0%).
The Huskies will return to action on Thursday night when they host Grand Valley State University in the SDC Wood Gym. Tech is currently tied for second place in the GLIAC North Division standings with Grand Valley. Thursday's tip-off is scheduled for 5:30 p.m.
