Huskies advance to GLIAC Championship

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WESTVILLE, Ind. – The No. 9-ranked Michigan Tech women's basketball team advanced to the 2021 GLIAC Tournament Championship Game with a 78-74 victory over Saginaw Valley State Friday (Mar. 5) at the Dworkin Center on the campus of Purdue Northwest.

The Huskies won their 17th straight game and improved to 19-1 overall. The Black and Gold will appear in the GLIAC Championship Game for the 15th time and will be seeking an eighth tournament title. Tipoff will be at 1 p.m. Eastern on Sunday against Ashland.

Ellie Mackay scored a team-high 25 points on 9-of-13 shooting. Jordan Ludescher added 20 points, making nine of her 11 shots. Baillie McGirk also hit double figures with 12 points, including a crucial bucket to stretch it to a six-point game with 20 seconds left.

"It's unbelievable how difficult it is to win in this league against anybody," said head coach Sam Hoyt. "What's really special about this team is they do everything together and always keep their composure. Other teams are going to go on runs but we always refocus on what we can do as a team. Our players continue to make good decisions in the tough moments and I trust Jordan and Ellie with the ball in any situation. I also thought Baillie was great today. She came off the high ball screen in the final minute and made a really tough layup and then a jumper that helped us seal the win."

The Huskies shot 56-percent overall and 38.5-percent from the 3-point arc. MTU took a 4-point advantage at the end of the first quarter and extended it to 47-33 by halftime. Saginaw Valley State countered in the third quarter and Kaitlyn Zarycki proved difficult to contain with 29 points on 11 of 17 shooting. Maddie Maloney also posted 22 points for the Cardinals.

With 20 seconds left in the fourth quarter, the Huskies were in front by just four 73-69 when Baillie McGirk made a jump shot to give MTU a crucial six-point cushion. After Zyricki scored on the counter, McGirk made it to the free throw line and went 2-for-2 with ten seconds left to ice the victory.

The Huskies are one win short of the program record with 17 wins in a row. The Cardinals shot 47.5-percent (28-59) overall and 7 of 19 from the long range. Saginaw Valley State won the rebound category 31-25. Jordan Ludescher and Cassidy Trotter nabbed three steals apiece for MTU. Alex Rondord had five points off the bench. 

"Saginaw Valley is a great team and we knew they would fight back throughout the whole game," said Mackay. "We just tried to put our best effort out there and got the win."