Huskies outscored 24-6 in the third quarter
HOUGHTON, Mich. – The Michigan Tech women’s basketball team struggled offensively in a 61-46 loss to Parkside at the SDC Gymnasium on Thursday evening.
Michigan Tech (15-12, 9-10 GLIAC) hit just two 3-pointers in 15 attempts and shot 1-of-12 in the third quarter as Parkside (14-13, 9-10 GLIAC) connected on eight 3-pointers and shot 35.7 percent from the field to earn a series split over the Huskies.
Ella Mason led the Black & Gold with 11 points on 4-of-10 shooting. Alyssa Wypych also reached double-figure scoring with 10 points, but only played 17:30 in a game where she picked up four fouls. Kloe Zentkowski led the team on the glass with eight rebounds.
“Obviously, a rough offensive night, again,” said Michigan Tech head coach Sam Clayton. “We defended them pretty well, and it was kind of similar to Monday. We defended well enough, we’ve got to find a way to get into rhythm offensively and create some easier shots.”
Parkside hit six of its first eight shots to jump out to an 11-4 lead in the first 4:16, forcing an MTU timeout. Lexi Bugajski accounted for seven points on 3-of-3 shooting as Lillie Peterson added four points and Cassidy Arni splashed in a triple.
The Huskies outscored the Rangers 8-7 to end the quarter, trailing 18-12. Wypych converted an and-one and Mason connected on a triple for the Black & Gold to be the team’s leading scorers.
Wypych opened the second quarter with four-straight points to help diminish the Rangers’ lead to just four points (24-20) by the under-five media break.
Wypych (5) and Mason (4) led the Huskies in scoring in the second quarter and slimmed the Rangers’ lead to four points (24-20) by the under-five media break, but the visitors closed out the quarter strong to head into the locker room pacing the Black & Gold by eight points (31-23).
The trio of Arni (10), Peterson (8) and Bugajski (7) totaled 25 of the Rangers’ 31 points in the first half as part of the team’s 37.9 percent shooting from the field.
Parkside came out red-hot to start the second half, putting together a 10-0 run to force a Michigan Tech timeout, as the visitors got out to their largest lead of the day (41-23) with 7:14 to play in the third.
The Rangers outscored the Huskies 24-6 in the third quarter to head into the final 10 minutes of action 55-29, Parksides’ largest lead of the day.
The Huskies saw 12 of their 17 fourth-quarter points come from the bench, as Maja Kozlowska and Brittney Mislivecek each recorded four points, as Kaisa Salani and Aubrey Johnson added two points, respectively.
The Black & Gold won the final period 17-6, but it was not enough to overcome the low-scoring third quarter, as the Rangers cruised to a 61-46 victory.
Peterson and Bugajski finished with 15 points, respectively, to lead the Rangers. Peterson and Arni also pulled down a team-high nine rebounds.
Up Next
The Huskies conclude the regular season on Saturday, welcoming Roosevelt to the SDC Gymnasium for Senior Day, slated for a noon tipoff.
