Michigan Tech guard Kendall Standfest attempts a jump shot during a game against Winona State Sunday at the SDC Gym in Houghton. (David Archambeau/For the Gazette)

HOUGHTON — The Michigan Tech women’s basketball team scored 48 points in the second half to overcome a 19-point first-quarter deficit to conclude the non-conference portion of the schedule with a 71-66 win over Winona State at the SDC Gymnasium on Sunday afternoon.

The Huskies saw four players end in double-figure scoring led by first-year guard Kendall Standfest, accruing her third double-double with 16 points and 11 rebounds. Center Maja Kozlowska recorded her second-straight career-high, chipping in 15 points in 24 minutes with a noteworthy five offensive rebounds.

Veteran guard Isabella Lenz had a well-rounded game with 12 points, seven rebounds, and a team-leading four assists and three blocks. Freshman guard Ella Mason rounded out the Huskies’ double-digit scorers with 11 points, seven coming in the final quarter of play.

The Black & Gold conclude the non-conference slate with a 3-5 record overall, while Winona State falls to 4-3.

“We weren’t playing like ourselves at all in the first half and had a lot of defensive mishaps,” Huskies coach Sam Clayton said. “It was great to see us be able to turn it around at halftime. We looked like a completely different team in the second half and Ella deserves a huge shoutout–she came up with huge shots for us in the second half.

“Kendall had a huge offensive rebound for us late that changed the dynamic of the game and kind of put them away. So many young players stepped up for us and I’m really proud of them. Bella came up huge for us defensively and was just steady for us all game.”

The Huskies came out of the halftime break trailing the Warriors 32-23 after shooting just 25 percent from the field in the first two quarters. Winona State sustained a double-digit lead for the first five minutes of the third period before the Huskies poured on two 3-pointers-first from Emma Anderson and then Alyssa Wypych with a layup from Standfest mixed in, to cut it into the Warriors lead (45-38) with 3:59 to go in the quarter.

Anderson scored twice more down the stretch, with first-year guards Standfest and Ella Mason adding buckets to make it a one-possession game (49-46) following a 3-pointer by the Warriors just before the end of the quarter.

Michigan Tech followed its 23-point third quarter (58.8 percent from the field) with a 25-point final quarter on six-for-10 from the field, including 11-for-14 from the charity stripe.

Kozlowska scored the Huskies’ first six points in the final frame with back-to-back layups and two free throws to tie the game at 52-all before Mason got her way to the foul line to make it a 54-52 affair at the 7:36 mark after hitting both free-throws.

The young core of Standfest, Wypych and Mason scored the Black and Gold’s next 12 points with a layup by Wypych at the 58-second mark, giving the Black & Gold a 66-64 edge.

The Warriors missed a layup on the following play, which translated into foul shots by Lenz with 15 seconds to play, making it 67-64, with Standfest garnering an offensive rebound that sent her to the foul line, making one of two to make it a four-point affair with 13 seconds to go.

Lenz made three of four free throws in the final seconds to push the Huskies ahead 71-66 and close out the weekend with a victory.

“We came out super flat in the first half and we know that,” Lenz added. “I think we executed much better in the second half and we saw a lot of players step up–Ella hit some big shots and we executed a lot better in the second half.”

Hailey Markworth led the Warriors in scoring with 15 points and nine rebounds. Saide Jarmolowicz (14 points) and Mattie Schimenz (14 points) also reached double-digit scoring.

UP NEXT

Michigan Tech remains home and will open GLIAC play next week, welcoming Parkside at 5:30 p.m. on Thursday before a Saturday matinee versus Purdue Northwest at noon.