Huskies Stumble at MSU-Moorhead

• Box Score

MOORHEAD, Minn. – The Michigan Tech women's basketball team dropped a tough decision at No. 18 MSU-Moorhead Saturday evening 76-50. It was game two of a three game weekend road trip which will wrap up Monday night at Minnesota State University.

Michigan Tech (1-3) jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the first quarter when junior Cassidy Trotter and sophomore Sloane Zenner combined for a pair of field goals in the first two minutes. Trotter dialed in a mid-range jumper to open the scoring followed by Zenner's layup with 8:43 on the first quarter clock.

MSU-Moorhead (4-0) turned the tide quickly with a 13-0 run that lasted until the 5:18 mark of the first quarter. Megan Hintz connected on a triple to cap the scoring burst and make it a 13-4 score at that juncture. Junior Baillie McGirk stopped the run momentarily for the Huskies with a mid-range jumper, but unfortunately it didn't slow the Dragons down for long. MSU-Moorhead closed out the quarter with a 28-8 lead and never looked back from there.

The Dragons ended up leading at the break 47-22, but the Huskies kept battling and had a stronger second half. Tech was even on the scoreboard in the third quarter 17-17 and the Dragons had just a one-point edge in the fourth quarter at 12-11.

Trotter led the Huskies Saturday with 14 points, two assists, and two rebounds. She was successful on 4 of 7 field goal attempts and made six free throws for Tech. Trotter earned a spot on the All-Classic Team after recording 10 points, five rebounds, four assists, and six steals against St. Cloud State in Friday's game.

Freshman Katelyn Meister followed Trotter on Saturday with 10 points, connecting on 4 of 5 looks from the field, including two from behind the arc. Zenner and freshman Kylie Mogen each had six points with senior Abbie Botz securing a team high four rebounds. As a team, the Huskies made 19 of 56 shots from the field (33.9%), were 6 of 24 from three-point range (25.0%), and 6 of 13 at the free throw line (46.2%).

Megan Hintz had a game high 20 points and 11 rebounds for the Dragons followed by Katie Tornstrom off the bench with 14 points. Natalie Steichen tossed in 11 points and Sarah Jacobson rounded out the double-digit scorers with 10 points in Saturday's game.

As a team, MSU-Moorhead found the target on 27 of 53 shots from the field (50.9%), were 11 of 22 from long distance (50.0%), and 11 for 17 at the charity stripe (64.7%). The Dragons had the advantage on the glass, out-rebounding Tech 48-24.

The Huskies will look to regroup on Monday night when they travel to Minnesota State to face the Mavericks in game three of the road trip. The tip-off is slated for 7 p.m. eastern time.