Release courtesy of Wes Frahm, Director of Athletic Communications and Marketing, Michigan Technological University
ST. JOSEPH, Mo. — Michigan Tech will play for the NCAA Division II Women’s Basketball National Championship on Friday!
The No. 3 Huskies defeated a very tough Northwest Missouri State team 89-78 in the national semifinals tonight behind a brilliant performance from sophomore point guard Sam Hoyt, who tallied team highs of 23 points and seven assists. The Huskies (31-2) were outscored 42-18 in the paint, but cashed in on 28-of-31 free throws and 9-of-19 3-pointers in the game for their 18th consecutive victory.
“We made big shots tonight,” said head coach Kim
Cameron, who became the first skipper in school history to guide a
Tech team to the national title game. “We had a hard time
defending their post players, but our offense came
through.”
Michigan Tech led by six at halftime, but the Bearcats clawed back
to tie the game at 41 with 14:20 to play. Hoyt scored 10 of the
team’s next 13 points over the following four minutes
including all three free throws after being fouled from the left
wing. The three foul shots put Tech up for good, but it was far
from over.
Northwest cut the margin to 54-53 less than a minute later, then
had two more shots to take the lead. Tech’s defense held
strong, then Lucy Dernovsek made a layup and Angela Guisfredi
buried a 3-pointer on her first shot attempt of the game to spread
the gap to 59-53.
Gentry Dietz kept the Bearcats in the game with 29 second half
points—most coming in the paint or at the foul line. She also
kept the decidedly pro-Northwest crowd (Northwest Missouri
State’s campus is just more than 40 miles from St. Joseph) in
a frenzy.
The biggest shot of the game perhaps came off the hand of freshman
Kate Glodowski, who swished a 3-pointer from the left corner for a
64-57 lead with 5:54 remaining. The shot quieted the
Bearcat’s portion of the crowd of 1,956, and the Huskies
built on the advantage. Guisfredi’s second 3-pointer of the
night pushed the margin to 10. Hoyt’s jumper at 3:32
remaining kept the lead at 10. Hers would be the last field goal
for the Huskies, who went 16-of-18 at the line in the final 2:33 to
close out the win.
“Sam decided to take over the game and there was nothing
that was going to stop her,” said Cameron. “Their crowd
got into it, and we made the plays to stop their momentum.
“Kate’s got ice in her veins, because that was a huge
shot for us at that point.”
Hoyt handled multiple defenses from Northwest Missouri with just
three turnovers. Her night overshadowed excellent performances from
both Lisa Staehlin (20 points) and Dernovsek (17 points and 11
rebounds).
Staehlin went just 4-of-9 from the field working against a stout
6-4 Bearcat center Kyla Roehrig. The Huskies’ post player
cashed in on all 12 of her free throws and had six rebounds and
three steals.
Dernovsek bounced back from a cold shooting performance in the
quarterfinal against Arkansas Tech to make 4-of-7 from beyond the
arc.
Lindsey Lindstrom added 12 points for Tech.
Northwest Missouri scored 78 points on 44 percent shooting but
didn’t have a 3-pointer in the game. The Bearcats went
24-of-31 at the foul line and held a 38-31 rebounding advantage.
Dietz finished with a game-high 33 points.
Michigan Tech shot 48 percent from the floor including 47 percent
from long range.
Tech will make its first-ever appearance in the national title
game on Friday (Mar. 25). The Huskies will face No. 2-ranked
Clayton State, which defeated Shaw 63-46 in the other semifinal.
The NCAA Division II Women’s Basketball National Championship
game is scheduled to tip off a 8 p.m. ET/7 p.m. CT and will be
shown live on ESPN2.
Michigan Tech is organizing a fan bus to St. Joseph for the title
game. The deadline to make reservations is Thursday (Mar. 24) at 4
p.m. Contact Steve Nordstrom (spnordst@mtu.edu or 906-487-3071) for
details.
Notes: Michigan Tech’s 31 wins ties a school record …
The school’s previous deepest run in the NCAA Tournament was
in 1993, when the Huskies lost in the national semifinal before
winning the third-place game.