HOUGHTON, Mich. - The Michigan Tech women's basketball team secured a fourth straight GLIAC North Division title with tonight's 68-50 victory over Ashland at the SDC Gym. All five starters scored in the first five minutes to give the Huskies a 13-point lead and set the tone for the team's 20th win of the 2010-11 season.

Michigan Tech, which has won 25 straight home games (11th this season), has also secured home-court advantage for the entire GLIAC Tournament.

"We got off to a great start tonight," said head coach Kim Cameron. "We ran into foul trouble in the first half, but other players came off the bench and stepped up to the challenge."

Both Lisa Staehlin and Lindsey Lindstrom picked up two fouls in the first 10 minutes of the game. Arguably the two most important defenders for Tech in the game sat on the bench the rest of the half.

The Black and Gold were still able to maintain at least a 10-point margin. A quick 8-0 run including five points from Lucy Dernovsek gave Tech a 42-24 lead with 2:43 left in the frame. Neither team scored again in the half.

Another 8-0 run by the hosts in the second half pushed the lead to as many as 25, and the gap was never fewer than 15 the rest of the way.

The Huskies league-leading scoring defense (54.7) prevailed over AU's GLIAC-leading scoring offense (72.4). Tech held the Eagles to just eight field goals in each half and 34 percent shooting for the game.

Lindstrom scored a game-high 17 points to go with six rebounds. Sam Hoyt recorded 13 points and five assists. Angela Guisfredi added 10 points.

Dernovsek posted a game-high eight rebounds to go with nine points, two assists and two blocks.

Tech held a 41-32 rebounding advantage and held a 12-2 margin in second-chance points.

Michigan Tech now has a three-game lead in the GLIAC standings with three games to go. The regular season GLIAC championship is the 11th in the program's 36-year history.

"We've been able to stay on an even keel," Cameron said of four-peating as league champs. "I don't think the players really realized what they'd accomplished until we told them. That's a great mind-set for us to have."

Along with all the other accomplishments of the game, Tech broke the school record for blocks in a season. Five different players combined for seven blocks on the night to push the season total to 127. The previous mark was 124 (set in 1989-90).

Michigan Tech will wrap up its regular season home slate on Saturday (Feb. 19) with a matchup vs. Lake Erie. Tipoff is slated for 3 p.m. Three Tech seniors-Dernovsek, Guisfredi and Staehlin-will be honored prior to the game.