Mackay’s Historic Night Propels Huskies Past Warriors and into GLIAC Semifinals

HOUGHTON, Mich. – Michigan Tech women's basketball senior guard Ellie Mackay tied the single game points record amassing 37 points to lead the No. 2 seeded Huskies over the No. 7 seeded Warriors of Wayne State and advance to the GLIAC semifinals.

"What a great game for Ellie to go off, her last home game, for everyone to be able to see her score 37 and shoot so well, super exciting for her," said head coach Sam Clayton. "I think it gives us a ton of momentum moving forward to compete for a GLIAC Championship."

With the win, the Huskies remain undefeated at home with a perfect record of 14-0 with an overall standing of 24-5.

Mackay, hailing from Novi, Michigan, would connect on her first three 3-point attempts, making two back-to-back before Isabella Lenz made a layup. Two possessions later, Lenz would dish Mackay the ball to give her her third assist, all coming from Mackay's baskets.

"We knew it was going to be a special game and we knew we've been undefeated at home so far so we always try to protect our home court and the fans and pep band make the atmosphere so much fun to play in and other teams don't like to play here," mentioned Ellie Mackay.

Following substitutions at the 6:19 mark, Lydia Schaible would clean up the glass and get the offensive putback to give Tech the 13-9 advantage.

Michigan Tech would head into the second quarter with a 26-13 advantage, with Mackay scoring the final four points for the Huskies with a layup and free-throws in the last 31 seconds to get her to 13 points, leading all scorers.

In the second half, the Huskies had an impressive defensive showing, causing three turnovers, to go with three blocks, two of which were from Schaible within the first minute of the second quarter.

Mackay would keep the hot hand, being the first scorer in the quarter, knocking down a 3-pointer at 8:43 followed by two trips at the charity stripe in the fifth minute of the second quarter to bring her to 20 points entering halftime with a 41-25 lead.

Despite the Huskies offensive barrage from Mackay and the stellar defensive second quarter, holding the Warriors to 10 points, Wayne State would not back down from the challenge.

Wayne State would come out in the third quarter and go on a 7-0 run to make it 41-34 with 8:27 to go.

"We knew it was going to be a tough one and they came out firing in the second half," said Sloane Zenner. "We stuck to our defensive game plan and we were able to get the win."

Senior Alex Rondorf would connect on a layup to kickstart the offense following the minute and a half without a basket to start the quarter.

Rondorf would connect on a jumper two possessions later before Mackay would go on to score the next 13 points for Michigan Tech, starting with two free-throws and a lay up before going back to the long distance game to give the Huskies a 13-point cushion with 3:18 remaining in the third. 

Mackay's third 3-pointer of the quarter brought her total to seven 3-pointers made, one shy of tying the single game record.

Coach Clayton received some crucial minutes from the bench in the ladder minutes of the third quarter, with Katie Meister, Lenz and Tessa Leece contributing to the cause. Leece would score the final basket of the quarter, hitting a 3-pointer with 27 seconds remaining to increase the lead to 13 at 64-51.

Once again, Wayne State would not go away quietly as the Warriors continued to chip away at the lead, getting as close as 11 points back, following a 3-pointer from Ally Shagena at the 7:40 mark.

Although the Huskies would have an answer with Schaible scoring on back-to-back plays with Lenz continuing to collect assists to bring the game back to a 15 point lead.

With 3:44 remaining in regulation, Mackay would convert on a jumpshot to tie head coach Sam Clayton's single game points record of 37 points.

However, in real time, the Huskies were focused on the task at hand.

"It's crazy, but I'm so proud of her. She deserves it, she's a way better scorer than I was," said Clayton when asked what it was like to coach Mackay and see her tie the record. "I wish I would've got her one more shot up, had I known what she was at. But so well deserved and to see her good out like that playing in the Wood Gym, it's the perfect ending to playing here."

Michigan Tech again turned to the reserves to help down the stretch with a black and rebound from Kate Meister with under two minutes remaining which turned into points in transition for a trailing Sara Dax to conclude the scoring for the Black & Gold.

As a team, the Huskies went 29-of-69 from the field, good for 42 percent, while winning the rebounding battle with 45.

Tech also forced 15 turnovers with four steals and six blocks.

Following Mackay's historic 37 points, Lenz and Zenner joined her in double-figure scoring with 11 and 10 points, respectively.

"I give all the credit to my teammates, if it wasn't for them I wouldn't be able to get open shots, the credit goes to them," Mackay added when asked about her astonishing scoring performance.

Lenz also contributed a stellar nine assists and four rebounds, Zenner garnered five rebounds.

The Warriors were led by Shea Tripp with 15 points and 10 rebounds.

With the win, the No. 22 nationally-ranked Huskies will play in the GLIAC semifinal game in Allendale, Michigan, facing the No. 6 seeded Ferris State Bulldogs. The Huskies and Bulldogs split in the regular season.