David Archambeau/For the Gazette Michigan Tech guard Alyssa Wypych drives around a Wayne State defender during a game Saturday at the SDC Gym in Houghton.

By DAVER KARNOSKY

dkarnosky@mininggazette.com

SAULT STE. MARIE, Mich. — With wins over the Saginaw Valley State Cardinals and the Wayne State Warriors, the Michigan Tech Huskies women’s basketball team broke a two-game slump with a pair of victories. They did it through spreading their offense around, and trusting in a freshman guard to keep taking big strides in her first season in Black and Gold.

With the two wins, the Huskies improved to 7-9 on the season and 4-4 in GLIAC play, which actually puts them in a tie in the standings with the Warriors.

“(It) feels a lot better than two losses, that’s for sure,” said Huskies coach Sam Clayton. “Probably, more importantly, the wins and losses, we’re just playing better.”

Clayton pointed to how the team is defending as improving from where things were earlier in the season.

“We’re having way more defensive urgency, our rotations, flying around, coming out with that fire that we needed to,” she said. “So, it’s been great to see that.”

Once the defense was playing well, then the Huskies could focus on the other end of the floor.

“Then offensively, really getting a ton of touches in the paint,” Clayton said. “I think Maja (Kozlowska), Janie (Tormanen), and Emma (Anderson) have been doing a great job just sealing, demanding the ball.. We’re getting some high-percentage shots. Our guards, too, have impressed the past couple of games, really taking care of it, and making great decisions for us.”

Offensively, the Huskies had four in double figures Thursday against the Cardinals, and then followed that up with five on Saturday against the Warriors.

“It definitely helps when we do have so many players that can put the ball in the basket, and they can do it in a variety of ways,” said Clayton. “It’s nice when you have any given player, when maybe we’re on a scoring drought, which those had gone on a long time in those games that we were losing, and now we were able to shorten them a little bit this past weekend where, OK, we needed a bucket. You could go to Jamie, you could go to Maja, not just Bella (Lenz), which is kind of what we had been doing before, but we do have a ton of different options.”

Clayton continues to be impressed with freshman guard Kendall Standfest. Prior to the game against Saginaw Valley, Clayton worked on finding ways to get her the ball more often, and that paid off in a big way in both games.

“Kendall’s playing so well,” Clayton said. “She’s playing so much more aggressive, which really helps us. It’s very rewarding, because she’s putting in the time, and I think everyone probably sees how good she can be, maybe even more so than she does. So, I’m proud of our players for being the ones to tell her too, ‘Look to score more. You can do it.’ Giving her that confidence, because you can see that there was a shift from prior weeks to this past week.

“Yes, I needed to make some adjustments with just putting the ball in her hands more to get her to look to score, but you can see her playing even with more fire. She won’t back down to anybody, plays hard, and yeah, even after a miss, she’ll go take that next shot, which is huge.”

Alongside Standfest all week stood sophomore guard Alyssa Wypych, who broke out a bit offensively. She had 16 points against the Cardinals and then followed that up with 11 more against the Warriors.

“(It) definitely helps to have Alyssa just finishing better,” said Clayton. “She’s taking all the same shots. I feel like she’s just finishing better. She’s getting more balanced at the basket. I felt like she was a little bit rushed and throwing stuff up there pretty quick in prior weeks, but this past weekend she really slowed herself down so she was able to finish.

“She’s such a strong guard where she can really finish at the rim. We’ve all seen her shoot the crap out of it. I mean, even as a freshman, she was one of the best shooters in the league. So, she’s another one that has that versatility.”

Up front, Clayton has been encouraged by the way Kozlowska, a junior, is finally settling into the game in a way she has not in her previous two years in Houghton.

“I like that Maja’s slowing herself down a little bit in the paint to be able to finish,” Clayton said. “She’s always been capable. Now, she’s finally getting to that point where she’s had enough minutes and experience where, when we get her the ball, I trust she’s going to make a good decision. She can really, really finish over the top. I mean she’s what, 6-foot-1, 6-foot-2, long arms. So, another one I’m talking about her finishing at the basket at a high percentage. Maybe most importantly, she affects the game defensively with her length. Her ability to affect other post players’ shots, or other guards when they’re attacking, she can really, whether she gets a block or not, she affects the shot and can really rebound.”

SCOUTING THE LAKERS

Thursday, the Huskies battle the Lake Superior State Lakers, a team that Clayton feels is actually emulating a number of areas of the game the Huskies are improving in. The Lakers are struggling to find wins under first-year coach Grace Howrigen, as they are 5-11 overall and 2-6 in GLIAC play after losing to both Purdue Northwest and Wisconsin-Parkside last week.

They are led by a pair of forwards in junior Grace Bradford and sophomore Breah Golden. Bradford averages 14.1 points per game. Golden is close, averaging 13.7.

SCOUTING THE

BULLDOGS

The Ferris State Bulldogs come into this weekend 13-4 overall and 7-1 in GLIAC play with their only conference loss coming to the Grand Valley State Lakers on Thursday, Jan. 9. They defeated both Wisconsin-Parkside and Purdue Northwest last week.

Senior guard Kadyn Blanchard leads the team with an average of 17.5 points per game. Junior guard Mia Riley averages 13.7, junior forward Mya Hamm averages 11.7, and senior guard Kenzie Bowers averages 10.6.

GAME TIMES

The Huskies and Lakers are set to tip-off Thursday at 5:30 p.m. in Sault Ste. Marie. The Huskies and Bulldogs are set to do battle Saturday at 1 p.m. in Big Rapids.