Release courtesy of Wes Frahm, Director of Athletic Communications and Marketing, Michigan Technological University
ST. JOSEPH, Mo. — The No. 3-ranked Michigan Tech women’s basketball team took down the No. 1-ranked Arkansas Tech Golden Suns 69-58 tonight in the Elite Eight to advance to the national semifinal game tomorrow. The Huskies improved to 30-2 on the season as their defense held ATU (30-3) to 27 points below its season average of 85.
[Box Score]
“We pride ourselves on our defense and it paid off
tonight,” said head coach Kim Cameron, who earlier in the day
was named Midwest Region Coach of the Year. “I thought our
kids really stepped up to the challenge tonight. They made some
runs, but we responded again and again.”
Tech, playing in its third straight Elite Eight, finally broke
through to the semifinals with defense. Arkansas Tech entered the
game with the nation’s highest field goal percentage at 51.
The Huskies held them to 34 percent including 4-of-16 from 3-point
range.
Doing a load of the defensive work was Lindsey Lindstrom, who
limited ATU’s Jenny Vining to 14 points on 5-of-16 shooting.
The Golden Suns’ other star player Natalia Santos, tallied
eight points on 2-of-9 shooting. Lisa Staehlin and Lynn Giesler
combined for the defensive effort there.
Giesler was called on early in the game as Staehlin picked up her
second foul with 15:18 left in the first half. ATU jumped out to a
7-2 lead, but the Huskies responded.
Sam Hoyt’s layup put the Black and Gold on top for the first
time,15-13, but the scoreboard didn’t show it. The scoreboard
lights showed a 16-12 ATU advantage. A 10-minute delay ensued while
the referees conferred and got the score right.
Hoyt picked up her second foul with 4:28 remaining in the half,
but the Huskies weathered the storm and stayed within 29-28 at
half.
Tech held ATU without a field goal through the first 4:20 of the
second half and built up a 46-36 advantage with 13 minutes to play.
The margin grew to 54-38 on Angela Guisfredi’s fifth
3-pointer of the game at the 11:28 mark.
The No.-1 ranked Golden Suns would not go quietly. They scored the
next nine points to pull within 52-47 at the 7:53 mark.
Staehlin then went to work scoring five times down the stretch,
culminating with a three-point play with 1:27 showing that turned a
five-point margin into an eight-point gap. Arkansas Tech did not
score for the final 3:50 as the Huskies ended the game on a 6-0
run.
“It’s hard sitting on the bench when you want to be in
there so bad,” said Staehlin. “Having only the second
half, I knew I had to contribute.”
Tech shot 41 percent for the game thanks to a 55-percent second
half. Staehlin was a huge part of that, making 7-of-10 field goals
and scoring all 15 of her points after the intermission.
Hoyt posted a team-high 18 points. Guisfredi added 16 more. The
two combined to make all nine of Tech’s 3-pointers in the
game. The team was 9-of-24 for 38 percent.
Lucy Dernovsek had an uncharacteristic 2-of-10 shooting night, but
more than made up for it with a game-high 16 points, three assists,
two block and two steals.
ATU was paced by Jessica Weatherford’s 21 points.
Michigan Tech has now won a school-record 17 games in a row. The
Huskies will make their second appearance in the NCAA Final Four in
school history (they finished in third place in 1993).
Tech will face the winner of Cal Poly Pomona and Northwest
Missouri State at 9 p.m. ET/8 p.m. CT tomorrow (Mar. 23).
Notes: Michigan Tech has defeated the last two No. 1-ranked teams
it has faced. Arkansas Tech tonight and Northern Kentucky in a
Midwest Regional semifinal back on Mar. 14, 2009 … The
Huskies have reached 30 wins for just the third time in school
history. The school record for wins was set a year ago at 31.