Huskies Fall at Grand Valley State 64-52

• Box Score

ALLENDALE, Mich. – The Michigan Tech women's basketball team came up empty at Grand Valley State University 64-52 in a Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference contest Thursday night. The Huskies stayed within striking distance until the third quarter when the Lakers outscored MTU 25-13 to pull away.

"The third quarter really killed us tonight," Michigan Tech Head Coach Kim Cameron said. "We only gave up 26 points in the first half and then allowed 25 points in the third quarter alone which is tough to overcome. We've been better this year coming out of halftime and unfortunately Grand Valley State got hot shooting the ball. We tried a few different things defensively, but were unable to slow them down. We have another challenge on Saturday at Ferris State and everybody in this league is good on their home floor, but we have to respond and get back on track."

Michigan Tech (17-7, 13-6 GLIAC) jumped out to a quick lead by scoring six of the night's first eight points. Grand Valley State (19-6, 14-5 GLIAC) did strike first on a basket from Taylor Parmley, but the Huskies would record the next six points starting with a layup by junior Lindsay Winter. Senior Morgan Anderson gave Tech the edge on a free throw and then Winter connected on a triple to make it a 6-2 contest with 6:02 left in the first quarter.

MTU maintained the advantage until the 3:53 mark when Bailey Cairnduff made a three-point basket to tie the game at 10-10. It began a 7-0 run for the Lakers which culminated on a Cassidy Boensch basket and a 14-10 GVSU lead. However, the Huskies were able to counter with five straight points of their own to recapture the edge going into the second quarter. Winter dialed in another trey and Anderson dropped in a short jumper just before the buzzer to make it a 15-14 score.

Grand Valley State commenced the second quarter with a couple of three-point baskets in a peiord where points were scarce on both sides. Piper Tucker knocked down the second triple with 5:10 left on the clock to make it a 20-15 score. A few seconds later, Anderson would make history by draining a jumper to push her past 1,000 points for her career and draw Tech to within three at 20-17.

The Lakers proceeded to build leads of six points twice during the next three minutes, but Tech battled back each time. Trailing 25-19 with 1:02 to go in the second quarter, redshirt junior Brenna Heise converted a conventional three-point play and then sank two free throws at the charity stripe with three seconds left in the period to slice the deficit to 26-24 at the break.

The Lakers scored the first four points of the third quarter and by the mid-way point had constructed a double digit lead at 38-28 after Jenn Deboer made a conventional three-point play. Tech chopped it down to eight points twice, with freshman Hannah Hobson finding the target from behind the arc with 2:22 to play in the third, resulting in a 43-35 score.

Unfortunately, a 6-0 scoring burst by GVSU created a 49-35 deficit after another conventional three-point play, this time by Piper. The Lakers took a 51-37 lead into the fourth quarter and remained in front by double digits until late in the fourth period. Anderson made good on a couple of free throws to slice the gap to 58-50 with 1:25 on the clock, but it was too little too late.

Heise paced the Huskies with 18 points, Anderson provided 13 points, and Winter contributed 10 points and 10 rebounds. The rebound total for Winter was a career high and on top of that she added three assists. Sophomore Elizabeth Kelliher chipped in six points and had five more blocked shots. Tech closed the night 17 of 50 from the field (34.0%), 4 for 17 from three-point range (23.5%), and 14 of 16 at the free throw line (87.5%).

Cairnduff recorded a team high 17 points and 12 rebounds for GVSU while DeBoer tossed in 10 points with a team leading four assists. The Lakers had eight different players score points in Thursday night's contest. GVSU wrapped up the game making 21 of 52 shots from the field (40.4%), they were 8 of 21 from behind the arc (38.1%), and 14 of 24 at the free throw line (58.3%). The Lakers had the edge in rebounding 39-31 and scored 22 points in the paint.

The Huskies will look to bounce back on Saturday when they travel to Ferris State for another GLIAC contest. The tip-off is scheduled for 1 p.m.