DULUTH, Minn. – The Michigan Tech women's basketball team was outlasted by Minnesota Duluth 71-67 at the Romano Gymnasium on Sunday afternoon. 

With eight seconds to play tied at 67-all, Michigan Tech (2-4) had a chance to put away Minnesota Duluth (2-3), but a missed jump shot from the left elbow by senior guard Isabella Lenz and free-throws from the Bulldogs on the following possession put Minnesota Duluth out of reach, seeing the scoreboard show 71-67 at the final buzzer's sound. 

Three Huskies reached double-digit scoring with a career-high from first-year guard Kendall Standfest (18 points). Graduate transfer Jane Tormanen (12 points)  and Lenz (10 points) joined Standfest in double-digit scoring. Sophomore guard Dani Nuest dished out a team-leading four assists. 

"Today was definitely a tough loss. I thought we took a step forward with both our offensive and defensive execution," said Tech head coach Sam Clayton. "Now it's just limiting our consecutive mistakes so teams can't go on those big runs. We'll look to bounce back next weekend at home."

Michigan Tech connected on nine 3-pointers and shot 40.6 percent from the field. However, Minnesota Duluth went 14-for-20 from the charity stripe while adding an impressive 16 offensive rebounds.  

The Black & Gold trailed by five points (37-32) entering halftime and used a 20-point third quarter to tie the contest at 52-all heading into the final stanza. 

Lenz scored seven points in the third quarter after going scoreless in the first half, while Standfest added five points.

Standfest produced a five-point run on back-to-back possessions, knocking down a triple at the 7:10 mark before giving the Huskies its first lead of the quarter moments later from a layup (59-57) with 6:38 to play. 

The Bulldogs strung together a 6-0 run and then Claire Bjorge knocked down a triple to pull ahead by five with 3:05 to play. The Huskies got crucial buckets from freshman Kloe Zentkowski and veteran Lenz in the next 40 seconds as the duo both made baskets from downtown to tie the game at 67-all. 

UMD used free throws in the final seconds to ultimately hold off the Huskies and escape the Sunday matchup with a 71-67 decision. 

Bjorge led four Bulldogs in double-figure scoring with a team-high 17 points, joined by Lexi Karlen (13 points), Myra Moorjani (11 points) and Vanessa Bickford (10 points). Bickford also recorded a team-leading 11 rebounds for a double-double. 

Up Next

Michigan Tech returns to the SDC Gymnasium next weekend to continue the non-conference slate, facing two additional NSIC opponents. The Huskies face Concordia-St. Paul on Saturday and Winona State on Sunday, both games are slated for a 2 p.m. tipoff.