Anderson Buzzer Beater Lifts Tech Past Grand Valley State
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | T | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Grand Valley State (13-5, 8-4 GLIAC) | 12 | 8 | 14 | 14 | 48 |
|
Michigan Tech (13-4, 9-3 GLIAC) | 10 | 9 | 16 | 14 | 49 |
HOUGHTON, Mich. – The Michigan Tech women's basketball team secured a crucial 49-48 Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference against Grand Valley State University Thursday night in the SDC Wood Gym. Senior Morgan Anderson came through in the clutch, driving to the basket for the game winning shot with 0.7 seconds left. The win keeps the Huskies within a game of first place in the GLIAC North Division standings behind Saginaw Valley State.
"Tonight's game was extremely competitive and it was a grind it out defensive battle between two good teams," Michigan Tech Head Coach Kim Cameron said. "It was hard to score and we earned every point we put on the board today. It's tough to do anything against their defense and everybody had to do their part to make their own shot because we couldn't get a lot of clean looks. I'm proud of our defense for being able to hold them to 48 points and come up with some big stops in the end."
On paper Thursday night's game shaped up to be a defensive battle between two of the top defenses in the GLIAC and that's exactly how it played out. The largest lead of the night for either side belonged to Grand Valley State (13-5, 8-4 GLIAC) just past the midway point of the third quarter. Michigan Tech (13-4, 9-3 GLIAC) had turns with the advantage as well, but by no more than two points over the course of 40 minutes.
The Huskies jumped out in front first on a jumper by redshirt junior Brenna Heise less than 30 seconds into the action. The Lakers then went up by four points at 8-4 with 5:31 to go in the first quarter on a layup by Janae Langs. Tech then countered with a mini 4-0 scoring burst thanks to another jumper by Heise and a jumper from redshirt junior Kelli Guy. The two buckets deadlocked the game at 8-8 with 4:07 left on the first quarter clock. Each team traded baskets over the next few minutes with the final bucket of the quarter going to GVSU on a layup by Taylor Parmley, giving the Lakers a 12-10 lead through 10 minutes.
GVSU threatened to create larger gaps a couple of times Thursday night, but the Huskies countered on each occasion. With just under four minutes to go in the second quarter, the Lakers built an 18-12 advantage following a free throw by Bailey Cairnduff. However, Tech would outscore the Lakers 7-2 during that final span and trailed by just one at 20-19 going into halftime. Junior Lindsay Winter started things with a layup followed by a layup in the paint and a triple by Heise for the final points of the half.
The game remained within one possession to start the third period and with 7:32 on the clock the score became deadlocked again at 24-24. GVSU then reeled off seven straight points to go up 31-24 with 4:19 left in the third after Cairnduff converted a conventional three-point play. The Huskies stayed on the Lakers heels and eventually took the lead at the end of the third quarter thanks to an 11-3 run. Anderson scored seven of the points, including a jumper with eight seconds remaining in the third to give Tech a 35-34. It was one of 18 lead changes that occurred throughout the course of the contest.
Two points or less is all that separated Tech and Grand Valley State during the entire fourth quarter setting up the exciting finish. Anderson put the Huskies back in front 45-44 on a layup with just over a minute to go, but with 23 seconds left, Langs matched Anderson with a layup of her own giving the Lakers a 46-45 edge. Anderson then powered her way to the basket with 13.2 seconds left for another layup and just like that Tech was ahead again 47-46.
It didn't last long as Piper Tucker found the bottom of the net for GVSU with four seconds to go, putting the Huskies behind 48-47 with four ticks left. Tech called timeout to setup a play and advance the ball into the front court for an inbounds pass. The Huskies quickly got the ball to Anderson who created just enough space in the paint to get a layup in the air which found its way into the bucket for a 49-48 lead with 0.7 seconds remaining. It would prove to be the game winner.
Anderson ended the night with 22 points, six rebounds, five assists, and two steals to lead Tech in the 49-48 victory. Heise followed with 15 points and four rebounds with Guy and Winter getting four points each. Winter was strong on the boards with six rebounds and also turned in a team high four steals. The Huskies ended the night sinking 23 of 53 shots from the field (43.4%), were 2 of 13 from three-point range (15.4%), and 1 for 1 at the free throw line.
Kayla Dawson and Cairnduff each had 10 points to pace the Lakers on Thursday night. Tucker and Langs each chipped in eight points with Cairnduff grabbing a game high eight rebounds. Langs and Tucker had five and four assists respectively. Grand Valley State finished the night 19 of 49 from the field (38.8%), 2 of 15 from three-point range (13.3%), and 8 of 12 at the charity stripe (66.7%). The Lakers had a slight edge in rebounds 32-29.
The Huskies will be back in action on Saturday when they host Ferris State for another GLIAC battle at 1 p.m.
