David Archambeau/For the Gazette Michigan Tech guard Kendall Standfest drives around a Grand Valley State defender during a game Saturday at the SDC Gym in Houghton.

HOUGHTON — Michigan Tech Huskies women’s basketball coach Sam Clayton liked a lot of what she saw from her team Saturday as they turned an early nine-point deficit into a six-point one with less than two minutes left in the first half. However, they could never get any closer than that, ultimately falling to the No. 1 Grand Valley State Lakers, 69-51.

“I thought we competed hard,” she said. “Honestly, (I) was a lot happier with our urgency, fight, and everything than I was on Thursday in the game that we won. So, it was great to see us come out, and we defended them really well for three and a half quarters, defended them really well.

“Now, (we gave up) too many offensive rebounds. You give up 20 offensive rebounds for 14 second chance points, that’s tough. It’s going to make it hard to win any game. But, credit to Grand Valley, they’re a really physical team, and they beat us up on the boards.”

Still, considering that the Huskies (9-11 overall, 6-6 GLIAC) lost to the Lakers earlier this season 93-52, Saturday’s loss felt like a much better all-around effort.

“They have a lot of depth,” Clayton said. “My goodness, and they don’t drop off one bit when they’re subbing. It’s impressive. There’s a reason they’re No. 1 in the nation. Now, that being said, our players played a lot of minutes, still competed hard for that 40 minutes, and did a much better job, I thought, today, taking care of the ball than the last time we played them.

“Then they had to kind of loosen up that pressure, and we were able to get things going a little bit better.”

The Huskies struggled from the floor for much of the first half, going just 2-of-16 in the first quarter, and then 5-for-11 in the second. Clayton lamented the fact that her team could not get shots to fall while the Lakers also had their own scoring struggles.

“In the first quarter, if we make half our layups, or, in the first half, it’s a tie game, or we’re up,” she said. “I think part of that is that mindset. When you go in against them, they speed you up. They’re long. They’re athletic. So, you’re not sure you can get the shot off. But, we can, and now we know that. So, I think we were able to settle in a little bit. Hopefully we get another shot at them, and then we can come in from the start knowing that, and (that) changes the complexion of the game.”

Freshman guard Kendall Standfest got better as the game progressed, and she finished with a team-high 13 points despite not hitting a 3-pointer. She also finished with five rebounds and an assist.

“She was really aggressive, which is huge for us,” said Clayton. “Some of those shots, she makes those tough pull-ups, and they were right there. Sometimes she’s getting banged the whole way to the basket and doesn’t get any of those calls. Not that that’s the difference in the game, by any means, but it was great to see her really aggressive, even when she didn’t get anything. She was able to pick it up, just be really patient, and find people where other players got good looks because of her being aggressive. So, that was great to see, as a freshman, to come out against No. 1 in the nation and just go right at them.”

The Huskies struggled to find answers at points in the game for Escanaba native Nicole Kamin and Rylie Bisballe. Bisballe was able to dictate parts of the game near the basket as Huskies junior forward Maja Kozlowska struggled with foul trouble. However, when Kozlowska was on the floor, she was effective, scoring six points in 15 minutes while picking up five rebounds.

She wasn’t the only Huskies player in trouble, as fifth-year forward Janie Tormanen also found herself in foul trouble.

“Then she can’t play as physical as she normally does, and defend like she normally does,” Clayton said, when asked about Kozlowska’s fouls. “I don’t know, our posts are picking up some silly ones too, where they’re silly fouls. If they can take away those couple, her and Janie, a couple fouls where she’s like, that’s really not necessary. I get toughness ones. But, that will help us. So, that’s something to learn from.

“When she was out there, she did a great job. I mean, 3-for-5 from the floor when we got her touches. When she got offensive rebounds, she did a pretty good job guarding their post inside. They’re tough, man. They had some tough finishes, especially in the second half.”

UP NEXT

The Huskies hit the road this week, traveling to face Wayne State Thursday night in Detroit.