Huskies Prevail 71-43 at Saginaw Valley State

• Box Score

UNIVERSITY CENTER, Mich. – The Michigan Tech women's basketball team extended its winning streak to five straight games with a 71-43 Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference victory at Saginaw Valley State University Thursday night. The Huskies' defense held the Cardinals to a 25.9 percent shooting clip from the field and had 11 players score points in the contest.

"I thought overall our team played really well, especially our bench players who gave us a big lift tonight," Michigan Tech Head Coach Kim Cameron said. "Our minutes tonight were strong and we were even better defensively in the second half than we were the first. Everybody played their roles well, got stops, and did a great job rebounding the basketball. I'm really proud of our bench for coming in and helping us finish the game with an even stronger second half."

Michigan Tech (19-3, 13-2 GLIAC) and Saginaw Valley State (5-17, 5-10 GLIAC) went back and forth through most of the first quarter. Hannah Settingsgaard got the Cardinals on the board with the first basket of the night before senior Kelli Guy tied the game at the 8:36 mark of the quarter. A couple minutes later, Guy put the Huskies ahead 7-4 on a triple and then with 2:47 to go in the first junior Michelle LaFave connected on a layup to make it a 12-8 edge in Tech's favor.

The Cardinals drew to within one again at 12-11 on a triple by Laurel Jacqmain, but it's as close as they would get the rest of the night. Guy closed the first quarter with five consecutive points for the Huskies which ignited a 12-2 scoring run that covered the end of the first and into the second period. Guy delivered a triple and got to the rim for a layup to make it a 17-11 score through 10 minutes.

Tech carried the momentum forward into the second period when senior Brenna Heise drove to the basket for a layup followed by another trey from Guy. Heise then gave the Huskies their first double digit lead of the evening at 24-13 on layup with 7:04 to go in the half. The Cardinals got back to within single digits at 26-17 midway through the quarter when Rozhane Wells connected on a mid-range jumper.

However, sophomore Hannah Hobson came up with five straight points for the Huskies on consecutive possessions to create a double digit gap that would last the rest of the way. Hobson sank a triple, grabbed a defensive rebound, and converted a mid-range jumper to extend the lead to 31-17 with 4:05 to play in the quarter. With just over a second remaining in the half, Hobson in-bounded the ball on the baseline, finding senior Hannah Stoll for a successful jump shot that sent the Huskies into the locker room with a 36-23 lead at the break.

Michigan Tech then generated the first eight points of the third quarter to go up 44-23 with 6:46 on the clock. Meanwhile, the Huskies' defense allowed just two Saginaw Valley State field goals and six total points in the third period to put the game out of reach. Tech's largest lead of the night at 58-29 occurred 13 seconds into the fourth quarter on a Hobson jumper.

Guy paced the Huskies' offense with 17 points followed Hobson who matched a career high with 12 points. Hobson was 5 of 7 from the floor and added an assist and a rebound in Thursday's win. Hobson also scored 12 points at Lake Superior State on January 13^th. Heise and junior Elizabeth Kelliher posted 10 points and a team high seven rebounds apiece to round out the double digit scorers. Kelliher had a pair of blocked shots and two steals on the defensive end of the floor.

The Huskies finished the night converting 28 of 61 shots from the field (45.9%), they were 7 for 23 from three-point range (30.4%), and 8 of 12 at the free throw line (66.7%). Tech out-rebounded the Cardinals 47-32, recorded 38 points in the paint, and the bench was responsible for 28 points Thursday night.

Settingsgaard led Saginaw Valley State with 11 points while Anna Hall chipped in six points with a game high 11 rebounds. The Cardinals made 14 of 54 shots from the floor (25.9%), were 2 of 13 from behind the arc (15.4%), and 13 of 22 at the free throw line (59.1%).

The Huskies will return to the court on Saturday when they travel to Northwood for another GLIAC contest. The tip-off is scheduled for 1 p.m.