HOUGHTON, Mich. – The Michigan Tech women's basketball team opens the GLIAC slate this weekend, welcoming Parkside Thursday and Purdue Northwest on Saturday at the SDC Gymnasium. Thursday's game is slated for a 5:30 p.m. start, with Saturday's tipoff set for noon.
Watch the Huskies
All home and GLIAC games will be streamed on FloCollege. Michigan Tech fans can watch all home and conference games in volleyball, basketball, football and soccer with one subscription. FloSports provides each subscriber with access to all content and events with the purchase of a monthly or yearly subscription. Subscriptions are offered in two different billing packages - monthly and annual. Discounts are available for students enrolled at GLIAC member and associate member institutions. You must subscribe with a .edu email address to be eligible. FloSports is available on iOS, Android, Apple TV, Roku, Amazon Fire, and Chromecast.
Huskies Spirit Shirt Giveaway
The first 200 fans at each basketball game this Saturday will receive a free Huskies Spirit Shirt, printed by Superior Graphics.
Copper Country Community Mental Health Awareness Day
The Michigan Tech basketball teams will host a Copper Country Community Mental Health (CCCMH) Awareness Day during their GLIAC doubleheader against Purdue Northwest Saturday. CCCMH consumers will play a short game at halftime during the women's and men's games to help raise awareness of the services Copper Country Community Mental Health provides in the four-county area.
About the Rangers
Parkside completed the opening non-conference slate with an overall record of 4-2, oddly enough going 0-2 at home while being undefeated on the road (4-0), most recently squeaking out a 69-63 win at St. Cloud State on Nov. 30—a team the Huskies fell to a week earlier.
UWP is the best team in the league at getting to the free-throw line, making 16.3 foul shots on 22.5 attempts per game. Defensively, the Rangers are one of the best shot-blocking teams in the country, averaging five blocks an outing as seven players have recorded three or more blocks, led by Chloe Van Zeeland with six. Parkside also gets rebounds at a high rate, posting 44.5 total rebounds a game (31.5 defensive and 13 offensive), which ranks 23rd nationally and second in the GLIAC.
Offensively, Parkside showcases four players averaging over 10 points a game, led by sophomore guard standout Cassidy Arni, who erupted for a 36-point game in the win at Minnesota Duluth (Nov. 18), averaging 16 points and 6.8 rebounds.
Junior guard transfer Peighton Nelson has shown promise in her first season with the Rangers with 13.7 points per game and two games over 20 points in six games. Sheridan Flauger (12.7 points) and Chloe Van Zeeland (10.8) round out the double-digit scorers—Van Zeeland also garners a team-leading 8.7 rebounds a game.
The Rangers were tabbed to finish fourth in the league as Jen Conley returns for her seventh season as head coach.
About the Pride
The Pride are in the first season under head coach Jesse Ford and enter league play with a 3-3 record. Purdue Northwest most recently fell to GLVC affiliate Missouri-St. Louis (66-56) on Tuesday.
Senior guard transfer Akyia Baker has shown promise for the Pride, producing a season-high 26 points versus Tiffin (Nov. 9) and a team-leading 16.5 points per game, adding 3.7 rebounds, 2.7 assists and 1.3 steals.
Senior guard Cherrle Newsom joins Baker in double-digit scoring with 11.2 points per outing and has the greenlight from long range, producing 3.3 3-pointers a game. As a team, PNW knocks down 8.5 3-pointers an outing, shooting a league-leading 35.7 percent from downtown while holding the opposition to just 22.5 from beyond the arc—which ranks 15th in the country and second in the GLIAC.
Junior forward Alyssa Cole, a transfer from Parkland College, leads the Pride with 6.3 rebounds, adding 8.8 points.
Purdue Northwest was predicted to finish eighth in the GLIAC.
About the Huskies
Michigan Tech is set for its third and fourth-consecutive game at the SDC Gymnasium to open league play following a 1-1 split last weekend with a narrow loss to then-No. 21 ranked Concordia-St. Paul (63-60), Saturday before turning the weekend around with a comeback win over Winona State (71-66) on Sunday.
The play of junior forward/center Maja Kozlowska continues to grow as she posted back-to-back career highs with 14 points on Saturday and 15 points in Sunday's win. She also added 14 rebounds in those two games, including a vital five offensive rebound outing Sunday.
Similarly, first-year guard Kendall Standfest accrued her third double-double of her young career for the Black & Gold with a team-leading 16 points and 11 rebounds. She ranks 17th nationally with three double-doubles and is only the second freshman in Division II to have three double-doubles this season. The Elk Rapids, Michigan, native also leads the team with 15 3-pointers, shooting a team-high 48.4 percent from beyond the arc.
Veteran guard Isabella Lenz remains the top-scorer for the Huskies with 14.5 points and a team-leading 1.5 blocks per game. She recorded a career-high three blocks on Sunday and earned GLIAC Defensive Player of the Week accolades for her efforts. She ranks tied for first in the league with 12 blocks through eight games.
One Last Thing
The Huskies are continuing to take care of the ball with just 12.5 turnovers per game, which is tops in the league and 12th in the country.
