Huskies Suffer 61-52 Setback at Northwood

• Box Score

MIDLAND, Mich. – The Michigan Tech women's basketball team came up empty in a Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference contest at Northwood University Thursday night 61-52. The Huskies held the lead at halftime, but struggled to find a rhythm on offense in the final two quarters.

"This was another tough game for us tonight as we struggled to get our offense going," Michigan Tech Head Coach Kim Cameron said. "We have to find a way to get back on track and get contributions from more than just a couple of players each night. I thought Elizabeth played tough on defense and proud that she was able to break the record for blocked shots. We are going to have to dig deep and figure out a way to up our performance on Saturday at Lake Superior State."

Northwood (11-9, 9-7 GLIAC) got the upper hand in the early moments of the first quarter and held a 7-2 edge after a Maddy Seeley layup with 8:16 on the clock. Trailing 9-4 with just under seven minutes to go in the first period, Michigan Tech (14-6, 10-5 GLIAC) put together a 9-0 scoring burst to surge in front 13-9. Redshirt junior Kelli Guy sank a triple followed by back to back treys from junior Lindsay Winter.

Jordyn Nurenberg of Northwood sliced the lead to 13-11 on a pair of free throws, but the Huskies stormed back with three more consecutive field goals. Redshirt junior Brenna Heise connected on a 17-foot jumper followed by back to back mid-range jump shots that found the bottom of the net from Hannah Stoll. Stoll's second basket made it a 19-11 game with 3:33 remaining in the first quarter and capped a 15-2 run by the Huskies.

Unfortunately, Tech was unable to score for the remainder of the opening quarter and the Timberwolves proceeded to reel off eight straight points of their own to deadlock the score at 19-19. Guy broke the scoring draught for the Huskies by dialing in a triple with 8:46 left in the second quarter, resulting in a 22-19 edge.

Northwood would tie the game twice in the second quarter, but Tech prevented them from going ahead with a couple of key baskets. Lindsay Orwat tied the game at 24-24, but Heise tossed in a jumper followed by a layup from freshman Baillie McGirk to give Tech a 28-24 advantage with 3:46 to play until the break. Karli Herrington converted a conventional three-point play for Northwood and then Winter drove to the basket for a layup to make it 30-27 with 3:04 to play in the second period.

Neither team would put points on the board for the remainder of the half as the defenses dominated to close the peiord. One of the highlights was a blocked shot by sophomore Elizabeth Kelliher on a layup attempt by Delaney Kenny. It was Kelliher's seventh block of the half and at the time it tied a single game school record for most blocks. Kelliher would add two more rejections in the second half.

Michigan Tech bumped the lead to five points at 34-29 on a field goal by Kelliher early in the third quarter, but the Timberwolves notched five straight points to tie the contest at 34-34 with 7:41 left in the third period. The teams exchanged baskets for the rest of the quarter, but Jordyn Nurenberg gave the Timberwolves a 40-39 edge on a layup with 41 seconds remaining.

The Nurenberg basket started a 7-0 run for Northwood which resulted in a 45-39 deficit for the Huskies with eight minutes to go in the game. Tech cut the gap back down to two points twice in the fourth quarter, but couldn't recapture the advantage. The Timberwolves were able to ice the game away at the free throw line in the final minute.

Winter powered the Huskies on Thursday night with a season high 17 points after connecting on 7 of 14 shots from the field. Heise followed with 14 points and 10 rebounds for her second double-double of the season. Heise poured in 22 points and grabbed 12 rebounds at Lake Erie College on December 8^th. Guy chipped in eight points and a team high four assists while Kelliher added five points, six rebounds and broke the Tech school record with nine blocked shots. Danielle Blake and Lisa Staehlin shared the previous record of seven, with Blake accomplishing the feat three times all against Northwood.

As a team, the Huskies were 23 of 67 from the field (34.3%), 4 of 17 from behind the arc (23.5%), and 2 of 3 at the free throw line (66.7%). Tech dished out 14 total assists and forced 11 Northwood turnovers.

The Timberwolves were guided by Nurenberg with 18 points, Maddy Seeley had 17 points, and Lindsay Orwat rounded out the double digit scorers with 10 points. Kenny closed the contest with seven points and a game high 13 rebounds. Northwood made 20 of 58 shots from the field (34.5%), were 3 of 9 from three-point range (33.3%), and 18 of 21 at the free throw line (85.7%). The Timberwolves also had the advantage on the glass, out-rebounding Tech 46-39.

The Huskies will look to regroup on Saturday when they travel to Lake Superior State for another GLIAC contest which is slated for 1 p.m.