No. 10 Women Shake Off Slow Start, Win 58-48 Over NMU

HOUGHTON, Mich. - Not even a slow start and cold shooting could keep the No. 10 Michigan Tech women's basketball team from gaining its 10th win of the season. The Huskies blocked 10 shots and won by a 10-point margin, 58-48, over rival Northern Michigan tonight.

It wasn't glamorous, but it went in the win column to help Tech improve to 10-1 overall and 6-0 in GLIAC play.

"You're going to have nights when you don't make shots and things aren't going your way offensively," said head coach Kim Cameron. "Our defense was pretty good, especially in the second half. We came out after halftime and got after it on defense. I think that got us going on offense, too."

Tech started the game ice cold from the field. The hosts made just two of their first 16 field goal attempts, but stayed in the game with 8-of-11 free throw shooting. Lucy Dernovsek's 3-pointer with five minutes to go in the half ignited the home crowd and pulled the Huskies within 20-15. The hosts worked their way into a one-point lead before Kellie Rietveld's 3-pointer sent the Wildcats into the locker room up 27-25.

The game was tight for the first six minutes of the second half before the Huskies grabbed control with a 13-2 run. Bench players accounted for nine of Tech's 13 points during the run including four from Lynn Giesler and a big 3-pointer from Kate Glodowski.

NMU (6-7, 1-5 GLIAC) trimmed an 11-point deficit to just six with 4:13 remaining. The Wildcats had three chances to further cut into the margin, but Tech forced two turnovers and Dernovsek collected her fifth block of the game. The Huskies made six straight free throws to end the game and claim the victory.

Dernovsek tied a school record with six blocks in the contest. She also had a game-high 15 points and seven rebounds. Lindsey Lindstrom notched her second straight double-double with 14 points and 10 rebounds.

The Huskies held a 41-34 advantage in rebounds. They also finished at 33 percent from the field compared to 29 percent for the Wildcats. Tech had 10 total blocks as a team.

Perhaps the biggest statistic of the game was free throws. The Black and Gold made 25-of-30 for 83 percent. NMU went 9-of-14 for 64 percent.

Michigan Tech will step out of conference to face Marygrove on Saturday (Jan. 8) at 1 p.m.

Notes: Dernovsek improved her nation-leading 3-point percentage to 60.5 with a 3-of-4 performance tonight … Carie Pejka was the first player in school history to record six blocks, doing so against Saginaw Valley State on Jan. 17, 1991 … Tech has won 15 of the last 16 games against NMU … The Huskies have won seven straight games.