The seventeenth-ranked Michigan Tech women’s basketball team (22-3, 16-2 GLIAC) increased their current win streak to eight, as they defeated the Ferris State Bulldogs (13-13, 7-11 GLIAC) this past Thursday 80-63. They completed the weekend sweep by defeating the Lake Superior State Lakers (2-21, 1-17 GLIAC) 75-65 Saturday.
On Thursday, Feb. 15, the Bulldogs got on the board just five seconds into the game knocking down a layup for the early 2-0 lead. However, senior Kelli Guy tied up the game a minute later knocking down a jumper. The Huskies and Bulldogs traded basket for basket for most of the quarter. However, the Huskies pulled away from threes by junior Michelle LaFave and sophomore Hannah Hobson, a jumper by senior Hannah Stoll, and two free throws by freshman Cassidy Trotter to end the first quarter in favor of the Huskies 21-14.
The second quarter saw the Huskies continue to pull away, as a layup and a free throw by Stoll put the Huskies up ten, 24-14. Threes by senior Brenna Heise and Guy increased Tech’s lead to 29-14. Two layups by junior Elizabeth Kelliher and a three by Guy put the Huskies up 16, 36-20 with six minutes left in the second. A three by Hobson and a layup by Kelliher saw the Huskies lead increase to 21, 41-20 with four and a half minutes remaining in the second. The Huskies and Bulldogs traded basket for basket for the rest of the quarter, with the Huskies going into halftime up 54-31.
Both teams continued to trade basket for basket for most of the third quarter, until a three by Hobson made it a 27-point game at 68-41 with 54 seconds left in the third. The Bulldogs knocked in a layup to end the third down 68-43.
The Bulldogs started the fourth quarter with a 7-0 run to make it 68-50 MTU with eight minutes remaining. However, two free throws by Stoll made it a 20-point game once again, 70-50. The Bulldogs attempt to comeback was squandered by a three from Guy to make it 73-56 with less than five minutes remaining. The Bulldogs pulled to 14, making it 76-62 MTU with 1:49 left in the game. However, two free throws by Trotter, and a layup by junior Isabella O’Brien secured the win for the Huskies 80-63.
The Huskies had a very balanced scoring attack, led by Kelliher with 16, followed closely behind by Guy with 15. LaFave contributed 12 off the bench, while Stoll finished with 11. Hobson had ten off the bench, while Trotter finished with five.
Senior Sarah LewAllen finished with four, while Heise finished with three. O’Brien and senior Elisa Jurmu each had two points. Kelliher completed the double-double leading the Huskies with 13 rebounds, while both Kelliher and Heise each finished with two blocks.
On Saturday, Feb. 17, The Lakers got on the board first, knocking down a three. Stoll fought her way to the basket to score the first points for the Huskies. The Lakers knocked down a jumper to go up 7-2 with seven minutes left in the first.
Stoll converted a layup to make it 10-8 LSSU. However, the Lakers continued to roll on knocking down a three, converting a layup, and knocking down two free throws to go up 17-10 with less than three minutes left in the first. The Huskies battled back and tied up the game after Trotter converted a layup and Heise knocked down a jumper to end the first tied up at 18 apiece.
The Huskies got their first lead of the game after Heise converted two free throws to make it 20-18 MTU. Two threes by LaFave made it a six-point game in favor of the Huskies, 26-20 with six and a half minutes left in the second. The Lakers battled back, knocking down a three to make it 26-25 MTU. A three by Hobson made it a nine-point game 34-25 with four minutes left in the quarter. The Lakers battled back again, knocking down a couple threes to make it 37-36 Tech with 1:54 left in the quarter. The Huskies went into halftime up 39-38.
The Huskies continued to build their lead in the third as Stoll converted a layup and a free throw to go up 44-38. Both teams traded basket for basket for the next few minutes. However, a three by the Lakers tied up the game at 48 apiece with four and a half minutes left. The Lakers took the lead on a layup with just under four minutes remaining. The Huskies retook the lead on a layup by LaFave making it 53-52 with a minute left in the quarter. A free throw by Stoll put the Huskies up 55-52 going into the fourth quarter.
The Huskies continued to build on their lead as Hobson converted a layup and a free throw to make it a six-point game, 58-52. Two free throws by Stoll and Heise made it a seven-point game 68-61 MTU with a minute and a half left in the quarter. The Huskies finished the game on a 7-4 run for a 75-65 victory.
The Huskies were led in scoring by Stoll with 20, while Heise followed with 16. LaFave contributed 15 off the bench, and Guy and Hobson each finished with nine. Kelliher finished with four, while Trotter finished with two. Heise led the Huskies with nine rebounds, while Kelliher had three blocks, LewAllen had two, and Hobson and LaFave each had one block apiece.
The Huskies will be back in action this Thursday and Saturday, as they take on the Wayne State Warriors (18-6, 13-5 GLIAC) with tip-off projected for 5:30 p.m. and the Davenport Panthers (8-17, 6-12 GLIAC) with tip-off projected for 1 p.m. Saturday’s game against Davenport will be Senior Night as both the men’s and women’s basketball teams will commemorate their seniors on their final regular season home game. The Huskies split with the Warriors and Panthers earlier in the season, losing to the Warriors 50-40, but defeating the Panthers 82-54. Also, seniors Brenna Heise and Kelli Guy will look to gain their thousandth point each, as Heise is only nine points away from 1,000 career points Guy is 16 points away from 1,000 career points.
