Clayton Earns Career Win No. 100 as the Huskies fend off SVSU, 56-51
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | T | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Saginaw Valley State | 11 | 8 | 8 | 24 | 51 |
|
Michigan Tech | 4 | 18 | 17 | 17 | 56 |
HOUGHTON, Mich. – The Michigan Tech women's basketball outlasted Saginaw Valley State 56-51 to earn head coach Sam Clayton her 100th career win and start GLIAC play 1-0 at the SDC Gymnasium on Thursday evening.
"We kept our confidence and energy, and were able to pull away for a little but we let a couple of turnovers turn into a plethora of turnovers which has been our Achilles heel all season," head coach Sam Clayton said. "I've had a lot of great players here so I've been super blessed, getting 100 career wins is no doing of my own, I'm appreciative of the way God's blessed me and the way my players have blessed me with wins and so much more than that."
Michigan Tech elevates to 5-3 overall and 1-0 in the GLIAC, while Saginaw Valley State falls to 3-4 overall and 0-1 in the loop.
The two teams had a slow start in their first game back since Nov. 28. However, the Cardinals jumped to an 11-4 lead at the conclusion of the first quarter as Tech struggled from the field, going just 2-of-14. Saginaw Valley did not shoot much better, although they connected on three 3-pointers.
The Huskies came back to life, posting back-to-back quarters allowing eight points from the Cardinals while pouring on 18 points in the second quarter to take a 22-19 advantage before scoring 17 in the third quarter 39-27.
The Cardinals sustained a five point lead with less than three minutes remaining in the first half before the Huskies went on a 7-0 run to conclude the second quarter, getting bench points from an Emma Anderson lay up and a 3-pointer from Lydia Shaible with the run starting off a bucket from long range by Katelyn Meister.
The Huskies went 3-of-3 from beyond the arc in the third quarter with a fast break layup by Tessa Leece at the 6:10 mark, showing the MTU leading by 12 at 33-21.
The lead would swell to 16 at the 4:29, before Michigan Tech would go on a cold streak to end the quarter with a 12 point edge at 39-27. Emma Anderson led the team in scoring for the third quarter with five points.
Michigan Tech held an eight point lead with less than four minutes remaining in the contest. However, the pesky Cardinals would not go away quietly, producing a four-point possession with a made free throw by Saniaa Walker and an offensive rebound on the second foul shot, allowing SVSU to connect on a 3-pointer to cut the lead to four points.
With less than 30 seconds remaining, the Cardinals brought the game back to a one possession affair and forced a turnover to make it a one point game with seven seconds left. The Cardinals committed a technical foul without any timeouts, sending Isabella Lenz to the free-throw line, where she hit both shots. SVSU was forced to foul on the inbounds, which sent Lenz back to the line to halt the Cardinals attempted comeback by a score of 56-51.
Lenz finished with a team-high 16 points and seven rebounds. Meister also accounted for seven rebounds, a team-leading four assists and joined Lenz in double-figure scoring with 10 points.
Aleshia Jones led SVSU with 13 points and 12 rebounds on the night.
Up Next
The Huskies will continue league play, welcoming Wayne State to the SDC Gymnasium Saturday at 1 p.m.
One Last Thing
Michigan Tech will be giving away 250 free Huskies spirit t-shirts for Saturday's double header.
