Michigan Tech guard Dani Nuest looks past a pair of Minnesota State-Crookston defenders for an open teammate during a game Saturday at the SDC Gym in Houghton. (David Archambeau/For the Gazette)

ST. CLOUD, Minn. — With a young squad this season in several key spots, the Michigan Tech Huskies women’s basketball team is going to have its share of struggles as the players figure out how to navigate being teammates and how quickly the college game comes at them. The Huskies got a sour dose of that last Saturday in a 90-68 loss to Minnesota State-Crookston after defeating Bemidji State on Friday night, 85-57.

With the split, the Huskies are now 2-2 on the season, and are heading out on the road this weekend to face St. Cloud State on Saturday and Minnesota-Duluth on Sunday.

Assistant coach Elisa Jurmu discussed the youth the Huskies are playing in key spots this week.

“I feel like, overall, we are playing pretty well,” she said. “We have five underclassmen playing a ton of minutes, so trying to just get them acclimated, trying to have them figure out our offense and our defense, and really trying to get our freshman and the underclassmen on the same page, and kind of executing our scout, is the most important thing moving forward.”

The Huskies are starting a group that includes senior guard Isabella Lenz, the GLIAC Preseason Player of the Year, and a group of freshmen and sophomores that include sophomores Alyssa Wypych and Dani Nuest, along with freshmen Ella Mason, Kendall Standfest and Kloe Zentkowski.

Of the second-year Huskies, only Wypych saw significant playing time as a freshman. Still, Jurmu is encouraged by what she is seeing from Nuest so far.

“Alyssa played a lot of minutes for us last year, obviously started quite a few games,” said Jurmu. “Danny’s been playing really well for us. She’s kind of stepped into the point guard position, and she’s been making really good decisions for us, shooting it well and really just being efficient for us, which is really good to see.”

Among the newest Huskies, Standfest has stepped in and made an impact immediately, much like Wypych did last season. Four games into her collegiate career, the Elk Rapids native has already scored 12, 12, 15, and 17 points.

“Kendall’s been playing awesome,” Jurmu said. “We knew how well she’d be able to play. I think she’s really just scratching the surface. She’s kind of figuring out a little bit game by game, but she’s averaging almost a double, which is pretty impressive.

“Only being four games in, and she’s been playing well. We just really have to really keep her confident. Then, as I said before, just really getting her, and the rest of our team, to execute defensively, that’s kind of the biggest thing moving forward.”

With freshmen, it is not easy to judge how quickly they can step into a role with a team at this level, but Jurmu has been impressed with how much Standfest seems to be willing to take on.

“It’s kind of hard to know with freshmen,” Jurmu said. “Honestly, I think we thought she would be able to play a really big role for us this season. With our limited numbers right now, we didn’t know how big of a role it would be, but she’s been stepping up to the plate, and honestly, she’s been playing really well.

“(She’s) just getting more comfortable every game, which is the most important thing. She’s really just figuring it out. So, I’m excited to see even the next steps she’s able to take this weekend.”

As far as the Huskies as a whole go, there were big lessons for the team to learn after Saturday’s loss.

“I think that we have to execute, especially defensively,” said Jurmu. “Our offense has been pretty efficient all season. We’re shooting about 45% from the floor, almost 40% from 3, and we’re taking care of the ball pretty well, which is good to see. But at this level, you can’t win games if you can’t get stops. So, we know that we have to take some strides in that area, and we’ve been drilling a lot of that this week, whether it’s our ball screen, defense, communications, our help and sync rotations and things like that. “

SCOUTING ST. CLOUD

St. Cloud State comes into this weekend 2-0 on the season after defeating Central Oklahoma and Washburn on Nov. 8 and 9 at the Central Region Crossover.

Junior guard Jada Eggebrecht leads the team in offense with 14.5 points per game. She is the only St. Cloud player averaging in double figures.

Sophomore guard Alana Zarneke is close, averaging 9.5 points per game. She is shooting 33.3% from beyond the arc.

In the paint, St. Cloud turns to junior forward Ashley Sawicki. She is averaging 11.5 rebounds per game, and then has 9 points per game to go with it.

SCOUTING THE BULLDOGS

The Bulldogs come into this weekend 1-2 to start the year after splitting at GAC-NSIC Conference Challenge with a loss to Southeastern Oklahoma State and a win over Northwestern Oklahoma State on Nov. 8 and 9. They played a GLIAC opponent already in Wisconsin-Parkside, and lost on Monday, 79-69.

Minnesota-Duluth has four players averaging in double figures. Junior guard Myra Moorjani leads the way, averaging 20 points per game. Freshman guard Claire Bjorge has also been excellent, scoring 16.3 points per game.

Junior forward Lexi Karge is scoring 11.3 points per game. Sophomore guard Lexi Karlen is averaging one point less at 10.3 points per game.

GAME TIMES

The unofficial “Battle of the Huskies” will take place Saturday at 11 a.m. in St. Cloud. Sunday, the Huskies and Bulldogs are set for an opening tip at 1 p.m.