PREVIEW: Huskies in Houghton this week

HOUGHTON, Mich. - Following a road split, Michigan Tech women's basketball is back at SDC Gymnasium this week when they host Wayne State Thursday at 5:30 p.m. followed by Saginaw Valley State Saturday at 1 p.m. 

Both games are available on FloSports online streaming and Mix 93.5 FM WKMJ local radio. MTU Athletics encourages fans to wear pink Thursday and Saturday this week to promote breast cancer awareness.

LAST TIME OUT

• After falling 63-60 to Ferris State in Big Rapids Thursday night, the Huskies bounced back with a road win at Lake Superior State 66-58. 
• Isabella Lenz led the team with 18 points and four assists.
• Ellie Mackay and Sloane Zenner pitched in 11 points apiece and Alex Rondorf finished with a double-double of 10 points, 10 rebounds.
• The Huskies committed just five turnovers (15 assists) and forced 15 from the Lakers. Rondorf led the defensive effort with three steals and three offensive rebounds.
• Michigan Tech shot 32-percent overall (18-56), including 30-percent (8-27) from beyond the arc.

CHASING DOWN THE RECORD

• Over the weekend, Ellie Mackay moved up to second in all-time games played (129). Angela Guisfredi holds the record with 130 appearances between 2007-11. 
• With 15 points Thursday night and 11 points Saturday, Mackay also surpassed Andrea Novak (2000-'04) for third place on the all-time scoring chart with 1,726 career points. 

HUSKIES SEEK SEASON SWEEP AGAINST WARRIORS

• Five players reached double figures and Michigan Tech women's basketball secured an 86-72 win over WSU at Wayne State Fieldhouse on January 7.
• Lenz paced the offense with 18 points, including 8-8 from the free throw line, and added six assists, four rebounds, and two blocks.
• Mackay also posted 13 points and Zenner finished with 11.
• Tech outscored Wayne State 20-10 in the first quarter and held on the rest of the way.

OVERTIME IN THE SDC

• Last year, Michigan Tech went to overtime with Wayne State at SDC Gymnasium and came out victorious 72-69.
• Mackay scored a team-high 20 points and grabbed 10 rebounds for a double-double.
• WSU tied the game with a layup and 16 seconds left in regulation to send it to an extra session.
• Michigan Tech 40-percent overall, including 38-percent from beyond the arc.

THE MATCHUP

• Michigan Tech holds a five-game win streak against Wayne State.
• The last time MTU lost to the Warriors was February 22, 2018.

WHERE THEY STAND

• Grand Valley State won both games last week to move one game ahead of Michigan Tech atop the GLIAC standings.
• Michigan Tech dropped to fourth in the D2SIDA Midwest region rankings.

SCOUTING THE WARRIORS (3-7, 10-8)

• Wayne State split a pair of home games last week, including a 58-55 win over Ferris State and a 69-56 loss to Saginaw Valley State.
• Senior guard Becca Fugate (Holly, Michigan) leads the team in points (14.3 ppg) and rebounds (6.4 rpg). She is a strong outside shooter with 37 triples in 2021-22.
• Last season, Fugate started 20 of 28 games and posted 7.8 points per game along with 51 assists.
• Sophomore forward Shea Tripp (Jackson, Michigan) played 24 games as a true freshman with eight starts. She leads the Warriors in assists, blocks, and steals.
• She has three games with 10 or more rebounds and posted a season-high 18 points last Thursday against Ferris State.
• Wayne State was projected to finish sixth in the GLIAC Preseason Coaches Poll.
• The Warriors fell to Ferris State in the GLIAC Semifinals last season after posting an 18-10 overall record.
• Head Coach Carrie Lohr is in the midst of her 12th season. She is the all-time leader in Wayne State coaching victories. 
• WSU features six newcomers, including a pair of transfer students.

SCOUTING THE CARDINALS (6-4, 11-9)

• SVSU takes a three-game win streak to Northern Michigan Thursday night before traveling to Houghton Saturday.
• The Cards got past Wayne State Saturday in Detroit 69-56 after shooting 54.5 percent overall.
• Kaitlyn Zarycki (GLIAC Player of the Week three times this season) led the team with her second 30-point game of the year. Zarycki shot 10-for-10 from the free throw line and 71-percent from the field.
• Zarycki is second in the GLIAC in scoring behind Parkside's Alyssa Nelson.
• Zarycki is second in the GLIAC in shooting percentage behind Purdue Northwest's Mercedes Simmons.
• Zarycki was GLIAC freshman of the year and second team all-GLIAC as a freshman. Last season, she was selected All-GLIAC First Team and All-GLIAC Defensive. 
• Senior forward Tori DePerry (Shawano, Wisconsin) ranks fifth in the conference in rebounds (8.3 rpg). 
• Jenny Pruett is in her fourth season as head coach. Pruett came to the Cardinals after serving as assistant coach at Division I St. Bonaventure for three seasons.
• She has also coached at Kent State, Longwood, and Central Michigan.

GLIAC PLAYER OF THE WEEK

• Ferris State University senior forward Chloe Idoni had a big weekend for the Bulldogs as FSU swept Michigan Tech and Northern Michigan at home inside Jim Wink Arena.
• Idoni averaged 32 points per game along with eight rebounds per contest for FSU, totaling 64 points, 16 rebounds along with two assists, two steals, and a block on the weekend.
• She poured in 34 points and 10 rebounds in a double-double effort on Thursday 
• Idoni then came back on Saturday to score 30 points and grab six boards with two assists in a 72-55 win over NMU.

WBCA NATIONAL RANKS 

• For the second straight week and the second time this season, Michigan Tech received WBCA Top-25 National votes in this week's Division II women's basketball poll. 
• Grand Valley State is the only GLIAC team Nationally ranked this week, down two spots on Tuesday to No. 8.

LISTEN TO THE HUSKIES

• The exclusive radio carrier of Michigan Tech athletics is Mix 93.5 FM WKMJ and its partner station AM 920 WMPL.
• Fans can listen to every conference game and a selection of non-conference action all season long on local radio and online at pasty.net.
• Long time play-by-play voice of the Huskies, Mitch Lake will be on the call for all Tech men's and women's basketball home contests.

OFF-SEASON NEWS

• Elisa Jurmu was promoted to Assistant Head Coach with the Michigan Tech women's basketball team, Head Coach Sam Clayton announced on Wednesday (August 3).
• Jurmu served as Assistant Coach for each of the past four seasons.
• Over that period, the Huskies posted a 70-39 overall record (.642), including two GLIAC North Division regular season championships, two conference tournament semifinal appearances, and one GLIAC tournament championship (2020-21).
• The Michigan Tech women's basketball team held the 15th highest grade point average in NCAA Division II in 2021-22 and was included in the Women's Basketball Coaches Association Top 25 award.
• The Huskies improved their GPA to 3.734 and were one of two GLIAC schools honored (Wayne State - No. 18). 
• Tech has been in the Top-25 for 14 of the past 15 years. Ten players earned GLIAC All-Academic Excellence honors and one more was a GLIAC All-Academic honoree.
• Michigan Tech Sports Hall of Famer Dawn Plitzuweit was named the Head Women's Basketball Coach at West Virginia on March 31.
• Plitzuweit was an All-American for the Huskies, playing from 1990-95, and was an assistant coach for the Black and Gold from 1995-98.