HOUGHTON, Mich. -- Utilizing 31 bench points and a 36-12 advantage in points in the paint, Michigan Tech's women's basketball team cruised to a 74-41 victory over visiting Mercyhurst today. All 11 available Huskies played at least 10 minutes as they advanced their record to 15-7 overall and 9-5 in Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference play.

Tech drained four three-pointers in the first eight minutes to grab a 19-7 lead. The Lakers then went to a trapping zone defense that slowed down the Huskies. The margin was trimmed to 24-19 before the hosts surged ahead with 23 consecutive points. Mercyhurst snapped a six-minute drought 33 seconds before the halftime buzzer for a 47-21 score.

The 26-point halftime margin grew to 39 in the first six minutes of the second half, and Tech used its bench liberally the remainder of the contest. On several occasions, the Huskies had five freshmen on the floor at the same time.

"I thought our defense played very well again today," said head coach John Barnes. "Our bench gave us a big boost today and overall it was a great team effort."

Freshman Danae Danen led all scorers with a career-high 16 points. The 6-0 forward made her first seven field goals of the game and also had seven rebounds and two steals. Jenna Bartels (12) and Katie Wysocky (10) also reached double figures in scoring. Sarah Stream, with seven points, was held under 10 points for the first time in 18 games.

Tech shot 46 percent for the game and held the Lakers to 23 percent including a 4-for-30 mark (13 percent) in the second half. The hosts also pulled down 50 rebounds compared to 40 for Mercyhurst.

Michigan Tech will travel to play at Ferris State on Thursday (Feb. 8) at 6 p.m. The Huskies are just a half game back of FSU in the GLIAC North Division standings.

Notes: Michigan Tech has won four straight games ... Tara Ferris saw her first action since Dec. 9 vs. Saginaw Valley State. She missed 13 games with a hand injury ... Danen's previous career high was 12, which she had last Thursday (Feb. 1) vs. Gannon ... MTU's 47-point first half was its highest scoring half since last Feb. 22 when it had 52 in the first half against Finlandia. The last time the Huskies allowed 41 or fewer points was in the same game vs. Finlandia (41).