David Archambault/For The Gazette Michigan Tech forward Mia Kozlowska runs against a pair of Saginaw Valley State defenders during Thursday’s game at SDC Gym in Houghton.
HOUGHTON — While the 100th career victory at Michigan Tech University didn’t necessarily go according to script, Huskies women’s basketball coach Sam Clayton still achieved a career high in a game in which her team didn’t give it its all in the SDC gym. The Huskies came away with a 56-51 win over the Saginaw Valley State Cardinals to open GLIAC play.
The Huskies (5-3 overall, 1-0 GLIAC) didn’t get on the scoreboard until 122 seconds remained in the first quarter. If that wasn’t bad enough, in the fourth quarter, they didn’t get a basket until the final 113 seconds of the game. They made some free throws in the fourth, allowing them to maintain their lead until they finally found other ways to score points.
However, they got the win, fighting through missed shots, which made Clayton happy. Giving up 23 turnovers made it even less so.
“(I have) mixed feelings” She said. “(We did) some really nice things. Starting out 2-for-14 in the first quarter, and then coming back from that, keeping our confidence and energy up, and being able to get away there for a minute was great. But after that, I thought we allowed a couple to turn into a number A lot of turnovers. (We) kind of got in our heads, and that pressure got to us, when it didn’t happen in the first half. So, I know we’re able to handle it better. That’s been our Achilles’ heel, all season long, just Those transformations.
The Huskies were playing without fifth-year guard Alex Rondorf, but Clayton felt her team needed to do a better job of responding to the situation at hand, whether that was focusing on ball control, or making smarter reads.
“I think we have some guys who are playing well, handling the ball a lot, and they’re not used to that.” She said. “I think we have to try different formations, because we have players on and off the field. So, it’s just getting used to it, and I think part of it is mentality as well. Just having an aggressive mentality in taking care of the ball and pressing attackingly so we can make good decisions.”
Junior forward Isabella Lenz led the Huskies in scoring with 16 points, but 11 of those came in the fourth quarter. When the Huskies needed a spark early in the game, they turned to junior forward Lydia Scheibel, who nailed a layup to put the Huskies on the board near the end of the first quarter.
In 26 minutes of play, Schiebel scored eight points and grabbed six rebounds. She also hit a key 3-pointer from near the top of the key to give the Huskies their first lead with just 52 seconds left in the second quarter, 22-19.
“Lydia popped up.” Clayton said. “She had a big injury when we didn’t score for eight minutes or something, and she got cut into the basket on a layup. From there, she was able to catch the three and shoot it, and she was feeling it. (She) made good decisions, and it finished well. good”.
Another key player for the Huskies off the bench was junior forward Emma Anderson. She played just over 15 minutes off the bench, but recorded nine points, two rebounds, one assist and one steal. She was choreographed post-play, much to Clayton’s delight.
“Emma came in, another one, hit a three, finished at the rim, and came up strong.” Clayton said. “It’s great to see different people stepping up.”
Trailing 11-4 after 10 minutes, the Huskies regrouped on the backs of Schiebel and Anderson, especially during the final five minutes of the second quarter, and found themselves up 22-19 at halftime after Schiebel’s late triple.
In the third quarter, the Huskies came out fast, with Lenz and freshman guard Alyssa Wiebich hitting three shots about 45 seconds apart. Midway through the quarter, the Huskies were shooting 75%. As they played through the remaining 4:32, that percentage dropped to 53.8%, but they continued to find ways to answer. They led 39-27 with 10 minutes left.
In the fourth period, the Cardinals pushed hard, scoring 24 points, and were able to cut the Huskies’ lead to four, 44-40, and then to two, 44-42, with just 2:32 remaining, but Lanez put up five points on that final stretch to push The lead was five points before the final bell.
the next
The Huskies return to action on Saturday when they host Wayne State at 1 p.m. at SDC Gym.
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