With their season on the line, the Michigan Tech women’s basketball team lost 51-49 to the Parkside Rangers in the GLIAC Quarterfinals. Isabella Lenz led the Huskies in scoring with 13 points, while Maja Kozlowska added 12 points. Katelyn Meister also contributed eight points to get over 1,000 points for her career.
In a tight game that saw two ties and three lead changes, Parkside jumped to an early 11-5 lead. The Huskies responded with multiple layups from Kozlowska to stay within four after the first quarter. Relying on numerous defensive stops, the Huskies clawed back in the second quarter and took the lead with five minutes to go in the half, courtesy of an Alyssa Wypych three-pointer. The Huskies stumbled in the third quarter as Parkside tallied seven layups to propel themselves to a 41-36 lead. In need of a boost midway through the final quarter, Lenz scored seven points in less than two minutes to bring Michigan Tech back within two. Kozlowska and Meister added layups to tie up the game at the three-minute mark. However, Michigan Tech did not score another basket, and Chloe Van Zeeland’s layup with 53 seconds remaining sealed the game for Parkside.
During the post-game interview, Michigan Tech coach Sam Clayton praised her defense, stating, “To hold Parkside to 51 when they average 75-76 points a game was phenomenal.” While the defense tallied 21 turnovers, the Huskies shot just 35 percent from the field. Ultimately, Michigan Tech missed numerous close-range attempts in a scrappy game that only saw six combined free throw attempts. Overall, Clayton reflected that the Huskies, “Got a lot of good stops…but just weren’t able to take advantage.” The Huskies ended the season with a 15-12 record with a 11-7 mark in conference play.
