Elk Rapids grad scores 22 points, grabs ten rebounds
HOUGHTON, Mich. – Michigan Tech women’s basketball first-year guard Kendall Standfest reached new heights on Play4Kay and Senior Day at the SDC Gymnasium on Saturday, recording a new career-high 22 points to go with 10 rebounds, securing her fifth career double-double in the 75-62 win over Lake Superior State.
The Elk Rapids, Michigan, native set a program record, going nine-of-nine from the field to highlight the Senior Day victory for the best field goal percentage for a game. Veteran guard Isabella Lenz (15) and graduate transfer Janie Tormanen (11) joined her in double-figure scoring. Standfest also recorded a career-high four blocks and a team-leading 10 boards.
Michigan Tech improves to 10-14 overall and 7-9 in the GLIAC, while Lake Superior State falls to 5-19 overall and 2-14 in the loop.
“Happy with the win, we needed to turn this around so that’s a big win today on Senior Day—I know it means a lot to our seniors,” said head coach Sam Clayton. “We were able to score it in the paint and get some high-percentage shots. In general, I’m happy to come up with a win today for our seniors. Thursday and Saturday Bella kinda came back to life for us and is playing how she’s capable and it’s nice to have players stepping up so she doesn’t have that pressure like Janie and Kendall—that allows Bella to play more freely. I love Kendall being more aggressive and she makes the right decision for us which speaks volumes for her just being a freshman.”
The Huskies led from the opening tip and finished the first period leading 26-15 with a plentiful shooting percentage of 69.2% while completing six-of-eight shots from the charity stripe. Tormanen (six points) and Emma Anderson (five points) got to work early to lead the way for the Black & Gold, establishing an inside presence early. Standfest was the anchor defensively, amassing three rebounds and three blocked shots.
By halftime, MTU’s lead swelled up to 21 points (43-22), with Standfest accumulating a team-leading eight points while holding the Lakers to just one-of-10 from the field and seven total points in the second quarter.
The Huskies continued to have the pedal on the gas to open the second half, seeing the lead swell to 25 points (66-41) following a jumper by Lenz with a minute to go in the third quarter.
Lenz shot a perfect four-for-four in the first 10 minutes out of the halftime break as Standfest added nine points, also going perfect on four shots. As a team, Michigan Tech shot 83.3 percent (10-for-12) while hitting three-of-five 3-pointers.
Lake Superior State outscored the Huskies 19-9 in the final quarter of action as the Huskies got deeper into their bench in the last 10 minutes of action. Kloe Zentkowski accounted for tour points to lead the way down the stretch as Michigan Tech got back in the win column by a decision of 75-62.
“I think we did a lot of things really well today and we continue to take a step each game which is what we need to do towards the end of the season,” Lenz added. “I think just trusting in what we’re doing and knowing that anyone is capable of scoring at any point and having that confidence has really helped us.”
Grace Bradford recorded her 1,000th career point in the game, leading the Lakers with 16 points, with Breah Golden adding 15, respectively. Jaden Wilder recorded a team-leading six rebounds for LSSU.
Up Next
The Huskies close out the home slate for the regular season on Thursday, hosting U.P. rival Northern Michigan at 5:30 p.m.
