The sixteenth-ranked Michigan Tech Women’s Basketball team (20-3, 14-2 GLIAC) embarked on their final road series of the regular season. They dismantled the Saginaw Valley Cardinals (5-18, 5-11 GLIAC) 71-43 Thursday, then slipped by the Northwood Timberwolves (14-8, 10-6 GLIAC) 86-81 on Saturday.
On Thursday, Feb. 8, the Cardinals got on the board first converting a layup, but 20 seconds later senior Kelli Guy nailed a jumper to tie the game at two apiece. Both teams battled back and forth matching point for point. However, a three and a layup by Guy helped pull the Huskies away from the Cardinals to end the first quarter in favor of MTU 17-11.
The Huskies added to their lead just a minute and a half into the second quarter, as senior Brenna Heise converted a layup to make it 19-11 Tech. A trey by Guy and a layup by Heise put the Huskies up 11, 24-13, with seven minutes left in the second quarter, forcing SVSU to call a timeout. Sophomore Hannah Hobson knocked down a three and a jumper to put the Huskies up 31-17 with four minutes to go in the second. A free throw and a jumper by senior Hannah Stoll saw the Huskies go into halftime with a 36-23 lead.
Tech continued its roll in the third quarter. SVSU’s first points in the third quarter came from a layup with 6:30 left, still trailing Tech 44-25. A free throw by freshman Cassidy Trotter made it a 20-point lead for the Huskies, at 49-29 with 1:52 left in the quarter. A three by Hobson ended the third quarter in favor of the Huskies, 56-29.
Just a minute into the fourth quarter, Hobson made it a 29-point lead for the Huskies on a jumper making it 58-29 MTU. Senior Elisa Jurmu made it a 29-point game again for the Huskies, as she landed a three with a minute and a half left. The game ended with a made free throw by the Cardinals to make it 71-43 MTU, which is how the game ended.
Guy led the Huskies in scoring with 17, while Hobson finished with 12. Heise and junior Elizabeth Kelliher each finished with ten apiece. Junior Michelle LaFave contributed eight off the bench, while Stoll put in six points. Jurmu finished with three, and junior Isabella O’Brien contributed two. Trotter, Botz, and Welsh each contributed one point. Both Kelliher and Heise finished with seven rebounds to lead the Huskies. Stoll, Trotter, and senior Lindsay Winter each had three assists to lead MTU. Tech finished with six blocks, two of which came from Kelliher.
On Saturday, Feb. 10, both the Huskies and Timberwolves found an answer anytime the other scored. A three by Heise and a layup by Stoll helped the Huskies pull away from the Timberwolves to make it 10-5 with seven minutes left in the first quarter. However, the Timberwolves went on a 5-0 run to tie the game at ten apiece. A free throw by Hobson made it 13-12 MTU. Following the free throw, both teams traded basket for basket, with the Timberwolves converting a layup to end the first 20-19 in favor of Northwood.
Trotter and Hobson converted layups at the start of the second to put the Huskies up 23-22 just a minute into the quarter. Three’s by LaFave, Hobson, Guy, and senior Sarah LewAllen put the Huskies up ten, 37-27 with three minutes left in the quarter. Both teams traded basket for basket to go into halftime with the Huskies up 43-35.
The Timberwolves came out of halftime and nailed a layup to make it 43-37. However, the Huskies responded with a 6-0 run to go up by 12, 49-37 with seven minutes left in the third. Layups by Hobson, Trotter, Heise, and Stoll put the Huskies up by 20, 60-40, with three minutes left in the third. A layup by Trotter ended the third in favor of the Huskies 66-45.
Both teams battled basket for basket to start the fourth. That is until the Timberwolves went on a 9-0 run to make it 73-61, forcing the Huskies to call a timeout with five and a half minutes remaining. Following the timeout, Northwood went on a 14-6 run to make it 79-75 with 1:13 remaining. The Huskies got a chance to play the free throw game the rest of the game, as they converted 9-10 free throws the final minute to secure the victory 86-81.
The Huskies had six players finish in double digits in scoring, led by Stoll with 16, followed closely behind by Heise with 15, and Hobson with 13. Guy finished with 12. Both Kelliher and Trotter each contributed 11. LaFave contributed five points off the bench, while LewAllen finished with three. Heise and Trotter led the Huskies with six rebounds each, while Stoll and LewAllen each had five assists. Heise, Kelliher, and LaFave each had a block for the Huskies.
The Huskies will be back in action Thursday, Feb. 15, as they take on the Ferris State Bulldogs (13-11, 7-9 GLIAC) at 5:30 p.m., and Saturday, Feb. 17, as they face the Lake Superior State Lakers (2-19, 1-15 GLIAC) at 1 p.m. The Bulldogs are coming off of a split this past weekend, defeating the Tiffin Dragons 87-68, but losing to the number one Ashland Eagles 122-53. The Lakers are coming off of a weekend of being swept by the Eagles 101-43, and the Dragons 53-52. The Huskies defeated the Bulldogs 80-77 and the Lakers 77-47 earlier this year on the road.
