David Archambeau/For the Gazette Michigan Tech guard Dani Nuest drives around a Roosevelt defender during a game Saturday at the SDC Gym in Houghton.

By DAVER KARNOSKY

dkarnosky@mininggazette.com

HOUGHTON — After a loss on Thursday to their rivals, Michigan Tech Huskies women’s basketball coach Sam Clayton was heartened by the start her team had on Saturday against the newest member of the GLIAC, the Roosevelt Lakers. However, that joy lasted just 10 minutes, as the Huskies scored just 10 points combined in the second and third quarters and found themselves on the losing end of the ledger, 74-57, when the final buzzer rang.

The Huskies (5-9 overall, 2-4 GLIAC), who scored just six points Thursday in the first quarter against Northern Michigan, scored 25 points in the first quarter Saturday. To struggle from there, especially at home, was frustrating for everyone involved.

“Disappointing to say the least,” Clayton said. “I mean, to come out and score 25 and then just totally shut down, I don’t know.

“They started going on a run. Their pressure got to us. (We) had some turnovers, missed a few shots, and then, from there, it was just a downward spiral. In the fourth, we fought back, same thing as Northern, but it’s got to be four quarters. We have to start putting it together.”

Clayton said that she felt that it was not a fundamental change by the Lakers that made life tough for her team.

“They were pressuring the same in the first and the second,” she said. “We didn’t handle it in the second or the third. We weren’t making good decisions. They were trapping the ball screen, which we knew they would, but we just got a little flustered, couldn’t get our composure back.”

Still, there were parts of the game that Clayton liked.

“I thought Bella (Lenz) was good the whole game,” Clayton said. “She really fought the whole game and tried to keep us in it, did everything that she could.

“Otherwise, Maja (Kozlowska) was pretty good when we got it into her as well. Otherwise, we kind of just need other people to step up, and be able to handle that pressure, and be able to make some good decisions.”

Clayton was also quick to point out her own faults.

“I have to get us ready better,” she said. “I have to get us ready better.”

The Huskies had almost their entire roster active for the game, but Lenz was the only Michigan Tech player to reach double figures with 14 points. Kozlowska added eight.

Michigan Tech led by nine after 10 minutes, 25-16, and despite only scoring four points in the second quarter, went into the break tied at 29-29. However, a 27-6 run in the third by the Lakers changed the game in their favor.

“We just press all game, just come out with a little bit more aggressive mindset,” Clayton said. “I don’t know. I do think we do always keep fighting, which is good. It’s just when we lose it here and there for quarters. I don’t know how to get the urgency consistently for 40 minutes. (That) is what we have to figure out.

“That’s been true in practices, too. If you’re not doing in practices, you’re not going to do in games. So, once we start doing our practices, we’ll probably see it in the games.”

Playing the way the Huskies are at this point in the season, where they have lost eight of their last 11 games, has been frustrating for Clayton, as the team is now nearly healthy after having just seven players available for much of the early season.

“It’s way more frustrating than even early in the season when we only had seven players,” she said. “We were playing harder and had a good mindset.”

The Huskies shot 3-for-24 from beyond the 3-point line in the game with Lenz hitting two and sophomore guard Dani Nuest hitting the other one. Freshman guard Kendall Standfest also played well, scoring nine points and picking up a team-high six rebounds.

However, the Huskies turned the ball over 17 times, which led to 18 points for the Lakers in the contest.

UP NEXT

The Huskies return to action Thursday when they host Saginaw Valley State.