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Tech women, men prepare to host GLIAC weekend series

David Archambeau/Daily Mining Gazette Michigan Tech’s Morgan Anderson drives to the basket on Dec. 3 at the Wood Gym against Walsh. The Tech women and men host Hillsdale on Thursday, and Findlay on Saturday.

Women

Who and when: Hillsdale Chargers  (7-3, 2-2 GLIAC) at Michigan Tech Huskies (6-2, 2-1 GLIAC), 5:30 p.m. on Thursday.

Findlay Oilers (5-5, 1-3 GLIAC) at Michigan Tech Huskies (6-2, 2-1 GLIAC), 4 p.m. Saturday

Men

Who and when: Hillsdale Chargers (4-6, 0-4 GLIAC) at Michigan Tech Huskies (4-5, 2-1 GLIAC), Thursday at 7:30 p.m.

Findlay (5-3, 2-2 GLIAC) at Michigan Tech (4-5, 2-1 GLIAC), Saturday at 6 p.m.

Where: Wood Gym.

Radio: 93.5 FM

Video stream: https://portal.stretchinternet.com/mtu/

Four things to know

GLIAC standings

Both the Michigan Tech men’s and women’s basketball teams are near the top of the GLIAC standings after two weekends of league play. The women (2-1) are in a four-way tie for first in the loss column with Grand Valley State (7-2, 3-1), Saginaw Valley State (7-2, 3-1), Northern Michigan (7-3, 2-1) and Northwood (4-3, 2-1).

As for the Tech men, they’re a game back of Wayne State (7-1, 4-0) and in a four-way tie for second in the loss column with SVSU (9-1, 3-1), GVSU (7-4, 3-1) and Lake Superior State (4-2, 2-1 GLIAC).

It’s early, but both teams figure to be in the GLIAC hunt for the remainder of the season.

“Coming off last weekend, I think we’re making the right steps forward,” Tech women’s head coach Kim Cameron said after her team earned weekend wins over Lake Erie and Ohio Dominican. “We’ve played against some good competition, and we’ll continue to play good competition, so if we can get better and have our team grow, like the bench playing how they’re capable of, then I do think we can do some good things.”

The Tech men could easily be tied for first if not for a letdown against Lake Erie on Thursday. Lake Erie (1-10, 1-3) earned its first — and so far only — win of the season, defeating Tech 77-73.

“It was obviously a devastating loss for us,” Tech head coach Kevin Luke said. “We were just not mentally ready to play that night. Credit goes to them for playing harder than us, but it’s one we gave away.

The Huskies recovered to beat ODU 77-56 on Saturday. Sophomore Kyle Monroe had another offensive outburst, scoring 30 in his team’s win. He’s now averaging 18.3 points per game, which is fifth in the GLIAC.

“We got good players,” Luke said. “We got good personnel and good systems. When we execute them, we’re going to be a pretty good club. The problem is not us doing that, it’s doing it on a more consistent basis. When we get it, we’ll be in the thick of things. If we don’t get it, we’ll be average one night and good the next night. That’s just what it is and what we’re working on right now.”

Heise goes off

Junior Brenna Heise (14.6 points per game) is 1/3 of the trio that leads the Tech women; junior Kelli Guy (14 ppg) and senior Morgan Anderson (18 ppg) make up the rest.

Over the weekend, it was Heise who led the Huskies; she recorded a double-double against Lake Erie with 22 points and 12 rebounds before adding 17 points and five rebounds versus ODU. For the weekend, she shot an efficient 16 of 28 (57 percent).

This week, Heise was named the GLIAC North Player of the Week.

“She was the high spot,” Cameron said of Heise last weekend. “She really played the way she’s capable of playing. We really need her to be more of a go-to player and her believing that she is.

“She was really successful in all the situations that we put her in. She shot 3s, posted up and had her normal midrange jumper that she normally shoots, but I thought she did an exceptional job.”

Coaches preview opponents

On the women’s side, Hillsdale is coming off a strong weekend sweep where the Chargers beat GVSU 54-57 on Thursday, and Ferris State 75-63 on Saturday. The Chargers are the top offensive rebounding team (15.9 offensive boards per game) in the GLIAC. Junior center Allie Dittmer (8.9 rpg) is the second-best rebounder in the league.

“They’re going to be fast, they’re going to get stuff in transition,” Cameron said of Hillsdale. “They’re a little more fundamental than they have been in the past. They’re doing a really good job of moving the ball and finding open people.”

The Hillsdale men are on the opposite end of the momentum spectrum, entering this weekend on a five-game losing streak and still in search of their first GLIAC win of the season. They were blown out by GVSU (75-49) and Ferris State (87-73).

“Hillsdale mixes up their defenses, and they run some good, screening motion offense,” Luke said. “If you do that and can shoot, it’s going to be a pretty strong offense. It’ll be a tough game Thursday.”

The Findlay women have the fourth-worst offense in terms of points per game (63.1), but their defense is right in the middle of the league, surrendering 64.5 points per game — the eighth-most. The Oilers have the unique distinction of having zero players average at least 10 points per game. Instead, four players average at least 9, while junior guard Lynsey Englebrecht, sophomore center Christa Puthoff and sophomore Anna Hintz each averaging 9.6.

“Findlay always causes us problems because they go to the basket so much and so hard,” Cameron said. “They set a ton of ball screens, but our biggest issue with them is they put their head down and go to the basket against us. Our containing and our guard play will be really important for that game.”

The Findlay men come in with an explosive offense that averages the fourth-most points per game (80.9). From 3-point range, the Oilers convert 39.5 percent, which is tied for third-best in the GLIAC along with Tech.

Findlay has a high-scoring duo in junior Martyce Kimbrough (20.1 ppg) and junior forward Taren Sullivan (17.4).

“Findlay’s just always been at the top or near the top of the South division, and this is no exception,” Luke said. “They can execute. Their offense is run to perfection… It’s a big week for us.”

Home sweet home

Losing 68-65 to the Walsh women on Dec. 3 was a rare occurrence; it marked just the eighth time in Cameron’s seven years as Tech’s head coach that the Tech women lost at home.

Now, in Tech’s first games at the Wood gym since that lost, they look to re-establish their home-court dominance.

“We need to make this a place where no one thinks they can win,” Cameron said. “That’s something that we try to have our players understand how sacred it is to play here, and how hard it is to win here. We have to put that back and prove that. Unfortunately, someone took one from us, but we’re going to be better moving forward.”

Naturally, the Tech men have also played better at home this season. Tech’s field goal percentage is 4.1 percentage points higher at home (48.9 percent) than away (44.8 percent). The Huskies also shoot from beyond the arc better at home, converting 43.2 percent at the Wood Gym, compared to 38.8 percent on the road. The better shooting numbers equate to 5.4 more points per game at home (81).

“I do think we feel more comfortable at home, obviously with shooting,” Luke said. “If we get off to good starts, we should be in good shape.”

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