MTU women’s b-ball win at Ferris
Courtesy of MTU Athletics
BIG RAPIDS, Mich. – The Michigan Tech women’s basketball team won its fourth game in a row, and swept the season series against Ferris State, defeating the Bulldogs 78-70 at Jim Wink Arena on Thursday (Feb. 6). The Huskies had four players in double figures and outscored FSU by 11 in the second half after trailing by three at the break.
Up one (58-57) with 8:00 left, the Huskies went on a 10-0 run over a 4:16 span with five different players scoring. Heidi Highstreet ended the streak with a free throw for Ferris, but Kate Glodowski hit back-to-back layups, giving Tech its largest lead of the game with 3:12 on the clock.
Dena Droste then nailed two 3-pointers in a row to cut the margin to single digits. Jillian Ritchie answered with her third trey of the game and Mackenzie Perttu made three free throws down the stretch to hold off the Bulldogs.
“That was a hard fought win,” Tech coach Kim Cameron said. “I was really happy with our second half defense. We had a lot of players play big roles tonight.”
The Huskies improve to 16-4 overall and 14-2 in the GLIAC. Ferris has now dropped three straight and are 6-11 and 6-9 in league play.
Tech went on a 9-0 run in the first half after trailing 23-17. The home team then scored 10 of the next 13 before a Ritchie three knotted it up at 32. Ferris closed the first half on a mini run to take a 40-37 lead at the break.
For the second game in a row, the Huskies had a change in the starting lineup. Emily Harrison got her first career start and responded with six points on 3-for-4 shooting
and tied a career high with seven rebounds.
“Emily was effective offensively and defensibly and was a major presence inside,” added Cameron. “She controlled the boards and played with a lot of confidence after being put in a difficult situation.”
Danielle Blake scored a game-high 19 points on 8-for-15 shooting. She also had a game-high nine rebounds. Ritchie finished with 15 points making 5-for-7 from the field and adding seven rebounds. Perttu (14) and Kerry Gardner (11) were also in double figures.
Glodowski finished with eight points in 17 minutes of action, making her three shots from the field and two attempts from the free throw line. Kelcey Traynoff (3) and Heather Kessler (2) also entered the scoring column, playing 11 minutes each. Traynoff added two rebounds while Kessler corralled two boards and dished out a pair of assists.
“Kate, Kelcey and Heather all gave us some good minutes tonight and we needed it,” Cameron said. “You can’t say enough about our bench in such a big game.”
The Huskies shot 46.7 percent (28-for-60) from the field and 47.4 percent (9-for-19) from three. Tech had 20 assists on 28 field goals and out-rebounded Ferris 44-40.
Droste (16), Sarah DeShone (13) and Katie Mavis (13) led Ferris State in scoring. The Bulldogs shot 31.3 percent (21-for-67) from the field and made 5-for-11 from beyond the arc. The home team made 10 more free throws (23-13) than Tech and committed only six turnovers.
Tech wraps up the weekend road trip at Grand Valley State on Saturday (Feb. 8). The Lakers had a two-point loss (61-59) to Northern Michigan on Thursday and are 6-2 at home.
“It’s going to be a mental toughness game,” said Cameron. “We know it’s going to be a battle.”