Photo courtesy of Michigan Tech University Michigan Tech guard Alyssa Wypych attempts a shot in front of the Huskies’ bench during a game against Davenport Saturday in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — The Michigan Tech Huskies women’s basketball team shot 61.5 percent from the field in the fourth quarter, including two 3-pointers in the final two minutes to pull away from Davenport, 68-60, at the DU Student Center on Saturday afternoon.

Michigan Tech improves to 5-7 overall and 2-2 in the GLIAC, while Davenport drops to 3-9 overall and 1-3 in the loop.

“I saw a lot of things I needed to see–a late game where we stayed composed and executed some of our things offensively and came up with some big stops,” said Huskies coach Sam Clayton. “So many players made big plays on both sides of the ball. Janie was a huge spark for us with her energy– Bella and Alyssa made big threes down the stretch. We needed to pull this one out just for our mindset, being in so many close games this season.

After being tied at 44-all to conclude the third quarter, the Huskies opened the final frame with a triple by veteran guard Isabella Lenz–her first of three in the highest-scoring quarter of the game for the Black and Gold, who scored 24 points.

The two teams jostled for a commanding lead, with Davenport pulling ahead by four points from a 3-pointer by Jada McCree (57-53) just before the halfway point of the final quarter.

Lenz connected on her second 3-pointer of the quarter with 3:56 to play to cut the Panthers lead to one point before freshman guard Kendall Standfest regained the lead for the Black and Gold off a layup with 2:48 to play.

Following a turnover by the Panthers Lenz got another 3-pointer to fall, earning graduate transfer Janie Tormanen her third assist to make it a two-possession game for the Huskies (61-57) with 1:50 to play. Standfest played lockdown defense on the next possession, earning a steal that translated into two free-throw makes by sophomore guard Alyssa Wypych, pushing MTU ahead by six with 1:09 to play.

McCree had the hot hand down the stretch for DU and made it a 3-point affair after connecting from downtown to cut into the lead (63-60). Still, Wypych came up clutch for the Huskies, knocking down a 3-pointer with the shot clock winding down with 34 seconds to play, ultimately forcing the Panthers to foul after a missed triple by Deyonce Thompson.

Lenz paced the Huskies offense with a team-leading 17 points as Wypych (12) and Tormanen (11) also reached double-digit scoring. Standfest added nine points while recording a game-high 13 rebounds, a new career-high that featured nine first-quarter boards.

Thompson matched Lenz with 17 points for the Panthers as Isabel Lindo added 12. Lillie Gustafson and Ellie Toney recorded five rebounds respectively, to lead the team.

UP NEXT

Michigan Tech is back in action next week, traveling to Northern Michigan at the Vandament Arena on Thursday (5:30 p.m.) before hosting the newest GLIAC member, Roosevelt, Saturday at the SDC Gym slated for a noon tipoff.