CHICAGO, Ill. – The Michigan Tech women's basketball team saw four players reach double-figures, highlighted by the second double-double of the season by Kendall Standfest and a career-high eight assists from Soraya Timms in a 64-48 GLIAC opening victory at Roosevelt on Thursday evening.
The Huskies were led by Timms with 14 points and eight assists as Janie Tormanen and Ella Mason added 13 points apiece and Standfest contributed 11 points and a team-leading 13 rebounds.
Michigan Tech snapped a two-game losing streak, elevating to a 5-2 overall standing and a 1-0 start to league play, as Roosevelt dropped to 1-4 and 0-1 in the GLIAC.
"I think our post being aggressive early–Janie specifically was a big key and all of our post players had a part in keeping Pitta out of the paint and we knew that was a big key coming in," said Michigan Tech head coach Sam Clayton. "I think we have so many gifted players and Soraya scoring early allowed her to create throughout the game and I think Kendall set the tone for the game with a couple of offensive rebounds in the first quarter."
The Huskies controlled the glass from the jump and finished with 44 rebounds compared to 30 by the Lakers. Both teams shot five 3-pointers in the first quarter, with Michigan Tech getting 3-pointers to fall from Tormanen and Timms before Mason's shot from downtown made it 13-8 with 3:22 to play before Timms capped the scoring for the Black & Gold, holding a 16-11 advantage 10 minutes into the action.
Roosevelt answered in the second quarter, outscoring the Huskies 14-13 with a 3-pointer and five points from the charity stripe. The triple came as time expired to keep the Lakers in reach, heading into halftime trailing the Black & Gold 29-25.
The Huskies were able to keep center Isabella Pitta on the bench for over half of the opening half after picking up two fouls in nine minutes of action.
The Lakers' Marie Outlay was a tall task for the Huskies in the second half, as she recorded nine points in the third quarter and six points in the fourth quarter. She was a focal point on offense for the first half of the third quarter, keeping the Huskies within reach, tying the game at 31-all with 7:09 to play. However, the Black & Gold did not back down, and mustered a 13-0 run with three steals and four different players scoring during the stretch, capped by a 5-0 spurt by Dani Nuest, making it 47-34 with 2:45 remaining in the third quarter. A turnaround jumper by Mason made it a 15-point lead for Michigan Tech, before heading into the final quarter ahead 49-37.
Michigan Tech produced 15 points in the final quarter of play while holding the Lakers to 26.7 percent from the field and just 1-of-6 from beyond the arc. The Huskies' starting five accounted for 14 of the team's points, with Kloe Zentkowski adding a free-throw in the mix, as the Huskies' largest lead came with 1:52 to play (62-44) before the contest was decided at 64-48.
Marie Outlay had a season-high 22 points and tied the team-high of six rebounds with Isabella Pitta.
Up Next
The Huskies wrap the opening weekend of GLIAC play on Saturday, traveling to Parkside for a 2:00 p.m. tipoff.
