Huskies Top Finlandia 98-49 in Final Exhibition
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | T | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Finlandia (0-0) | 6 | 18 | 4 | 21 | 49 |
|
Michigan Tech (0-0) | 26 | 26 | 29 | 17 | 98 |
HOUGHTON, Mich. – The Michigan Tech women's basketball team wrapped up the preseason with an impressive 98-49 win over Finlandia University Friday night in the SDC Gym. The Huskies stormed out of the gate on a 17-1 run and never looked back in their second exhibition game of the 2019-20 season.
"I was really happy with the way we were able to bring a defensive urgency to this game," Michigan Tech Head Coach Sam Hoyt said. "I think specifically in the first and third quarters we really came out with good ball pressure to take them out of their offense. Overall, I thought it was a great exhibition game for us. Our bench players got a lot of minutes and a tremendous amount of experience that is going to be necessary for us moving forward."
Senior Abbie Botz sparked the 17-1 opening run for Michigan Tech by putting the Huskies on the board with two free throws just over a minute into the contest. Junior Baillie McGirk followed with a layup and then a triple by junior Cassidy Trotter made it a 7-0 score with 6:31 remaining in the first quarter. Katie Lundeen notched the first point on a free throw for Finlandia to break the Lions scoring drought at the 5:59 mark.
Five different players contributed points on offense as the Huskies stretched their lead to 17-1 over the next three minutes. Sophomore Ellie Mackay connected at the free throw stripe, sophomore Sloane Zenner got into the paint for a layup, senior Ellie Welsh dialed in a triple, freshman Katelyn Meister posted two points in the paint, and freshman Sara Dax converted a pair of chances at the free throw line.
The Huskies carried a 26-6 lead going into the second quarter before leading at the intermission 52-24, outscoring the Lions 26-18 in that second frame. Tech had a dominant third period, outrunning Finlandia 29-4 to increase the gap to 81-28 with 30 minutes in the books. The Lions would end up having a slight edge in the fourth quarter 21-17, resulting in the 98-49 final.
Welsh powered the Huskies offense with 17 points, connecting on 6 of 6 shots from the field with five of those coming from behind the arc. Mackay closed the contest with 12 points and six rebounds followed by Meister with 11 points and six boards. Dax recorded a double-double thanks to 10 points and 10 rebounds in Friday's win. As a team, the Huskies were successful on 33 of 78 shots from the field (42.3%), made 10 of 29 attempts from long distance (34.5%), and cashed in 22 of 29 chances at the free throw line (75.9%). Tech out-rebounded Finlandia 52-41 in the victory.
Finlandia had two players reach double digit point totals, with Mariah Austin leading the way at 12 points. Taylor Pertile chipped in 10 points while Casana Ryyanen added eight points and a team high nine rebounds. Tech's defense limited the Lions to 15 successful field goals out of 59 attempts Friday night (25.4%). The Lions were 6 for 17 from three-point range and 13 of 21 at the charity stripe (61.9%).
The Huskies will tip-off the regular season next Saturday November 9 at Lewis University in the GLVC/GLIAC Crossover Tournament starting at 4 p.m. eastern time. Tech will then battle William Jewell in the second game of the year Sunday afternoon at 2 p.m. eastern time.
