PREVIEW: Huskies continue road swing this week

HOUGHTON, Mich - Fresh off their 11th straight win over Northern Michigan Monday, the Huskies travel to Purdue Northwest on Thursday, followed by Wisconsin Parkside Saturday, part of a five game in-conference road trip. Both games can be heard on Mix 93.5 FM WKMJ.

LAST TIME OUT

• Michigan Tech women's basketball swept the season series against Northern Michigan with a 68-49 win Monday night at Berry Events Center. The Huskies held the Wildcats to 18 points in the first half, then dominated the third quarter to improve to 7-3 in the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference, 12-6 overall. 
• Freshman Isabella Lenz was especially effective in the mid-range and led Tech with 13 points (season-high) and went 6-for-8 from the field with three steals, three assists, and one block. Daisy Ansel also contributed 11 points off the bench. Ellie Mackay (12 points) and Katelyn Meister (10 points) also made it to double figures.

TECH GLIAC RANKS

• Points - 73.3 (2nd) [37th in NCAA Division II]
• Rebounds - 35.4 (67th)
• Free Throw Percentage - 78.7 (2nd) [14th in NCAA Division II]
• Field Goal Percentage - 46.6 (1st) [8th in NCAA Division II]
• Assists - 15.4 (2nd) [49th in NCAA Division II]
• Steals - 8.4 (2nd)
• Blocks - 3.2 (4th)
• Defense - 66.8 (7th)

SCOUTING THE PRIDE

• Purdue Northwest fell 69-52 to Purdue Northwest Monday in Kenosha, Wisconsin. The Rangers used an 11-0 run in the second quarter to lead by 12 at halftime. PNW made just 5 of 14 free-throw attempts.
• Junior guard Savayah Brockington (Indianapolis) leads the team with 13 points per game and 6.1 rebounds. Mostly an inside shooter, Brockington connects on 37-percent from the field.
• As a sophomore, Brockington was All-GLIAC second team and named PNW Female Athlete of the Year. She also started 28 games as a freshman.
• Sophomore guard Dash Shaw (Crown Point, Indiana) has five games of 20 or more points this season, including 26 against at UIndy on December 18.
• Head coach Courtney Locke is in her third season. Locke was an assistant at four different Division I programs prior to PNW. Last season, the Huskies upended the Pride twice. Purdue Northwest lost to Ashland 81-41 in the GLIAC Quarterfinals.

SCOUTING THE RANGERS

• Parkside got past Purdue Northwest 69-52 in a postponement makeup Monday night at De Simone Arena. The Rangers outscored PNW 17-12 in the fourth quarter. Alyssa Nelson led the way with 22 points, six rebounds, and four assists. She moved into fourth on the Parkside all-time scoring record board with 1,376 career points. Hannah Plockelman dominated in the paint with 16 points and nine rebounds. Paty Gallasova totaled 10 points and three assists.
• Nelson (New Berlin, Wisconsin) led the team in points, steals, field goal percentage, three point percentage, and free throw percentage last season. She leads the conference with 21.3 points per game and shoots 43-percent from 3-point range. Last season, she scored 35 points against PNW and was selected as preseason GLIAC Player of the Year.
• The Rangers average 68.9 points per game and allow 71.0 points to opponents. The Huskies won the first matchup between squads 93-76 in Houghton on January 6. Ellie Mackay scored a career high 36 points, which was one point shy of the program record. Rondorf was also effective on both ends of the floor with 18 points, seven rebounds, and three assists.
• Last year, the Rangers upset No. 9 Ferris State and No. 2 Grand Valley State before bowing out to No. 6 Ashland in the GLIAC Semifinals. Michigan Tech won both matchups with UWP in Houghton last season.
• Jen Conely is in her third season as head coach of the Rangers. She has led the team to two straight GLIAC tournament semifinals appearances.

ELLIE MACKAY CONTINUES TO LEAD

• Junior guard Ellie Mackay leads the Huskies and ranks third in the GLIAC with 17.3 points per game. She has won GLIAC North Division Player of the Week twice this season and has been honored four times in her career. She has been in double-figures each of the last 13 games, including 13 against Northwood last Thursday and 12 Monday night at Northern Michigan.
• She posted a career high 36 points against Parkside and has one double double. Mackay is an impressive 90-percent from the free throw line. Her career 1,281 points ranks 11th on the Tech all-time scoring chart.

NORTH DIVISION PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Alyssa Nelson - Parkside

• Senior guard Alyssa Nelson (New Berlin, Wis.) led the Parkside women's basketball team to a 67-66 win over Davenport on Saturday. Nelson scored a season high 32 points and grabbed three rebounds on the way to the victory.  She also hit the game winning shot as time expired to earn the Rangers eighth win of the year.
• Nelson continued to shoot efficiently, going 11-18 from the field, 4-7 from three-point land, and 6-7 from the free throw line.

SOUTH DIVISION PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Ellie Taylor - Northwood

• Senior guard Ellie Taylor (Midland, Mich.) averaged 16.7 points, 3.7 rebounds, 3.7 assists and 1.8 assists per game in three games, leading Northwood to a 3-0 week. Taylor shot 51.7 percent from the floor (15-29), 58.3 percent from point range (7-12) and 76.5 percent from the foul line (13-17). She opened the week by finishing with 21 points, seven rebounds and four assists in a 70-65 win over Ferris State. Taylor then had 17 points while going 4-6 from 3-point range in a 91-81 road win at Michigan Tech.
• She added four assists and two steals in the win. Taylor finished the week with 12 points, three assists and two steals in a 78-75 win at Northern Michigan. Taylor was the primary defender on NMU's Makaylee Kuhn, who scored six points in the game, nearly 10 points below her season scoring average. Northwood is currently on a seven-game winning streak, the longest for Northwood in 31 years.

REIGNING CHAMPS

• Michigan Tech women's basketball returned in 2021-22 as the reigning Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference tournament champions. Head coach Sam Clayton begins her fourth season as head coach after capturing the GLIAC Regular Season North Division title and making a trip to the NCAA Midwest Region Semifinals.
• The Huskies bring a mix of experience and youth and are led by captains Ellie Mackay (Novi, Michigan), Jordan Ludescher (Glen Flora, Wisconsin), and Katelyn Meister (Wisconsin Dells, Wisconsin). All three were integral starters and shared a heavy workload this season prior to Ludescher's injury after the departures of seniors Baillie McGirk and Cassidy Trotter.
• Tech finished 20-2 overall, including 17-1 in the GLIAC and unseated perennial powerhouse Ashland in the conference championship 74-63. The Eagles got their revenge in Springfield, Missouri when they edged the Huskies 74-65 in the NCAA Tournament. Michigan Tech matched a program record with 19 wins in a row during the regular season.
• The Huskies were selected to finish first in the GLIAC North Division in the GLIAC women's basketball preseason coaches' poll with eight first place votes. The Huskies were followed by Ferris State, Wisconsin Parkside, Northern Michigan, Purdue Northwest, and Lake Superior State. Grand Valley State received nine first place votes to take the top spot in the South Division.