Huskies pounce on Panthers 63-48

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – Ellie Mackay led the way with 18 points, and No. 24 Michigan Tech defeated Davenport 63-48 Saturday afternoon at DU Student Center in Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference women's basketball. Sara Dax and Isabella Lenz also made it to double-figures with 10 points apiece as the Huskies reached the 20-win plateau for the fifth time in the past seven seasons.

Mackay shot 7-for-12 from the field and added six rebounds and Alex Rondorf compiled a team-high 11 rebounds for MTU. Tech outscored DU 38-8 in the paint and added 18 points off turnovers.

The Huskies led 15-9 after one quarter and stayed in from 29-21 at halftime. Ellie Toney helped Davenport cut the deficit to four at the midpoint of the third quarter, but Mackay scored 14 points over the final 6:14 of the fourth to assist Tech to victory.

Michigan Tech received 19 points off the bench, including Katelyn Meister with nine. Tech shot 44.1 percent overall (26-59), including 27.3 percent (6-22) from beyond the arc. Tech pushed the lead to a game-high 15 in the final minute of the fourth quarter.

"Like Thursday, we didn't shoot to our capability today from outside, but we did a good job getting points in the paint and overall I was happy with our effort," said head coach Sam Clayton. "It was nice to see Ellie have another strong game for us, especially late in the game."

Toney led the Panthers with 15 points and Mary Liedel posted 14 points after playing a full 40 minutes. The Huskies limited DU leading scorer Lilee Gustafson to 10 points and nine rebounds. 

Michigan Tech (20-5, 12-3) returns to Houghton to conclude the regular season with three home games, beginning Thursday against Purdue Northwest at 5:30 p.m. The Panthers (7-17, 1-13) dropped their seventh straight and the Huskies swept the season series.

MTU stayed in second place in the conference standings after No. 6 Grand Valley State defeated Northern Michigan Saturday.