Mason paces Huskies with 20 points
HOUGHTON, Mich. – The Michigan Tech women’s basketball team trailed No. 1 nationally-ranked Grand Valley State by seven-points with one quarter to play, but ultimately fell to the Lakers 73-53 inside the SDC Gymnasium on Friday afternoon.
Sophomore standout Ella Mason netted her fourth 20-point outing of the season to lead the Huskies as Alyssa Wypych added 13 points on 3-6 from the field and a perfect 6-6 from the charity stripe.
“They hit three’s early and that was our game-plan, we didn’t want to get it inside–obviously we saw they have an unbelievable post player but they’ve also got an unbelievable team,” said Tech head coach Sam Clayton. “It was good to see our team compete and we made a good run up until halftime. We have to start stronger in the first and second half and that will be an adjustment coming into tomorrow.”
Grand Valley State (11-0, 3-0 GLIAC) made five of their first six shots including three 3-pointers to jump out to a 13-5 advantage in under four minutes played.
Both teams went on a scoring drought that extended to the media timeout with 4:08 to play before the two teams traded 3-pointers. The Lakers ultimately held a 10 point advantage after the first quarter with Mason drawing a foul on a half-court buzzer beater, connecting on 2-3 from the charity stripe to make it 23-13.
Michigan Tech (8-3, 2-1 GLIAC) scored six unanswered points to start the second quarter while forcing four Laker turnovers early in the quarter. Mason made it a seven-point affair with a jumper from close range (25-19) at the 7:03 mark. By the media break, GVSU once again pushed the lead to double-digits (31-21)
The Huskies outscored the Lakers in the second quarter 16-12 with six unanswered points to start the quarter while six turnovers. Wypych contributed six points in the quarter as the Black & Gold cut the deficit down to four points with 1:14 to go in the half (33-29) off a layup by Maja Kozlowska. A layup by Avery Zeinstra concluded the scoring and put the visitors back ahead by six points.
The Lakers opened the third quarter similar to the game, knocking down two shots from 3-point land to extend the lead back to double-digits. However, the Huskies finished the third quarter strong with five unanswered points including a 3-pointer from Wypych while holding the Lakers scoreless for nearly four minutes to make it 50-43 with one quarter remaining.
The Huskies struggled to find offense and rebounds in the fourth quarter as the Lakers held them to their lowest scoring quarter of the game, allowing 10 points while producing 23 on the offensive side.
The Lakers shot lights out, connecting on nine of their 12 attempts which included 3-5 from 3-point land, shooting 75 percent in the final ten minutes while holding the Black & Gold to 10 points and 2-12 from the field, both being 3-pointers from Mason.
GVSU entered the quarter ahead by seven and got up to a 20 point advantage by the conclusion of the game
Janie Tormanen had a team-leading six rebounds as Kendall Standfest had a team-high four steals and five points.
Bisballe led all scorers with 22 points on 9-13 shooting and a team-leading seven boards. Paige Vanstee and Nicole Kamin also reached double-figure scoring.
Up Next
The Huskies conclude the first weekend of 2026 hosting Davenport on Saturday for a 1:00 p.m. tipoff.
