Ella Mason drops seven of ten from behind the arc for 21 points
HOUGHTON, Mich. – The Michigan Tech women’s basketball team saw a season-high 23 assists on 26 made field goals led by Ella Mason with 21 points on 7-10 from 3-point range in a 73-46 win over Purdue Northwest at the SDC Gymnasium on Saturday afternoon.
Behind Mason, the Huskies had Kendall Stanfest (12) and Soraya Timms (11) reach double-digit scoring. Kloe Zentkowski impressed in her first start of the season, recording a career-high eight assists while adding four points and five rebounds.
“I’m super proud of our team for being able to respond to a tough loss Thursday and a senior captain who’s a huge contributor for us. It was just great to see so many players step up in different ways,” said Tech head coach Sam Clayton. “Kloe getting the start was phenomenal and she had eight assists, which was impressive. Her and Maja needed to step up and they did—I also thought Bella Hanna came in and looked great.”
The Huskies gained separation early in the first quarter as Timms opened a perfect 3-3 from the field, including two 3-pointers, as Dani Nuest and Mason added treys to pull ahead 16-12 at the end of the quarter.
Both teams struggled to start the second quarter as the Pride shot 1-6 from the field and the Huskies went 2-7 off of two 3-pointers by Mason to see the Black & Gold ahead 22-15 by the media break (6:34). The Huskies finished the first half with seven made 3-pointers as Mason added another trey to make it 25-18 with 4:47 to play in the half.
Zentkowski and Alyssa Wypych added layups down the stretch to head into halftime leading 31-24.
The Huskies’ largest lead of the half came with 3:14 to play (27-18) and commanded the glass 26-14, including six offensive rebounds. Mason led the scorers through the first half with nine points as Timms added eight points to go with five rebounds and four assists. Zentkowski, in her first start of the season, produced three rebounds, three assists and a layup in 13 minutes of action.
Wypych scored five-straight points for the Huskies to start the third quarter with a triple and a layup before Mason cashed in on her fourth trey of the day, to extend the lead to 13 points, the largest of the day (39-26).
The Huskies hit four 3-pointers midway through the third quarter with two from Mason, and one each from Wypych and Timms to jump out to the largest lead of the day (45-28) with 6:15 remaining in the period.
Kendall Standfest concluded the third quarter with a jumper and a layup to cap a 26-9 scoring period to see the Huskies ahead 57-33 with one quarter to go.
The Black & Gold shot 55.9 percent from the field, adding a quarter-high six 3-pointers. The Huskies’ defense held the Pride to 4-14 in the quarter and 1-5 from beyond the arc.
Michigan Tech controlled the fourth quarter with six points from Standfest as Aubrey Johnson added three free throws and Hanna recorded her first career block enroute to a 73-46 victory.
Alyssa Cole (14) and Cameryn Phillips (11) reached double-figure scoring. Cole also had a team-leading seven rebounds.
Up Next
The Huskies return to the road next week, traveling to Davenport on Thursday and No. 1 nationally-ranked Grand Valley State Saturday.
