David Archambeau/Daily Mining Gazette Michigan Tech’s Kelli Guy drives against Saginaw Valley State’s Anna Hall Saturday at the Wood Gym.

HOUGHTON — Off the dribble or on a catch-and-shoot, Michigan Tech juniors Kelli Guy and Lindsay Winter swished 3 after 3, putting on an electric shooting display that had the Wood Gym buzzing. 

Guy made 6 of 7 3s in the first half, and Winter was 3 for 3 as Tech shot 10 of 13 from 3-point range in the first two quarters, setting the tone for an 82-57 GLIAC win over the Saginaw Valley State Cardinals Saturday on Senior Day. 

“Once you get one to go, it was obviously feeling good,” Guy said. “My teammates were doing a good job of finding me in the open spots, and I just tried to stay aggressive in the first half.”

The Huskies’ shooting spree could not have come at a better time as two of their top leading scorers — senior Morgan Anderson and sophomore Elizabeth Kelliher — were forced to sit early in the second quarter with two fouls each. But Tech (17-6, 13-5) didn’t panic and Guy went 5 for 5 from 3 in Tech’s 24-point second quarter, giving the Huskies a 44-27 lead at halftime over the first-place Cardinals.

“Kelli’s capable of that,” Tech head coach Kim Cameron said. “If you were able to watch it, it was different today. The way she set up her person, got open and got her shot off and how quick and precise it was — her performance was pretty special.”

Guy scored all of her 18 points in that dynamic first half, while Anderson bounced back and scored 15 in the second half to give her a team-high 20 points. Winter finished with 17 points.

The law of averages eventually worked itself out and Tech cooled off, shooting just 1 of 6 in the second half. Eventually, SVSU did a better job of denying Guy the ball once she crossed halfcourt. But Guy’s 3-point heroics were no longer necessary, because it was Tech’s defense that stuffed any hopes of an SVSU comeback. The Cardinals (19-5, 15-3) shot just 9 of 30 in the second half, ensuring an eventual Tech blowout.

“We did an excellent job on the perimeter,” Cameron said of her defense. “They’ve had a couple hot hands, lately, and I really think we got them out of it in the first quarter and continued to keep our focus and finish the game. 

“I’m proud of us for finishing the game. We played 40 minutes. Forty tough minutes against a really, really good team that kept fighting back. It’s been a long time since we’ve been able to do that.”

SVSU senior Emily Wendling, the GLIAC North Preseason Player of the Year, displayed her talents as one of the top post players in the league, finishing with 27 points on 8 of 13 shooting. However, the rest of the Cardinals combined to go 11 of 42. 

One of Tech’s keys was limiting senior guard Katelyn Carriere, who came in fourth in the GLIAC in points per game (16.2). But Carriere was a non-factor for much of Saturday, scoring just six points on 2 of 10 shooting.

“We knew that if we could get Carriere out of the game, we’d give ourselves a really good chance,” Anderson said. “We had to lock up their key players, too, and just play good, fundamental defense.”

The Cardinals controlled the game early on as Tech missed four consecutive shots and had two turnovers in a span that saw SVSU take a 7-3 lead with 6 minutes, 22 seconds remaining in the first quarter. 

Then Tech came alive. 

Winter broke Tech’s scoring drought with a running layup in the lane. In the end, Tech closed the first on a 17-2 run for a 20-9 lead heading into the second quarter.

The Huskies finished 27 of 59 from the field. Tech junior Hannah Stoll contributed 11 points off the bench, and sophomore Bella O’Brien and senior Brenna Heise each had nine rebounds.

Next, Tech heads to Grand Valley State on Thursday.

SENIOR DAY

Anderson is the only senior on Tech’s women’s roster and she had a proper send off, swishing a 3 from the left wing to get her to 20 points before she was subbed out to a standing ovation with 1:46 left in the game. Her final basket gives her 996 career points.

“It’s really hard to explain,” Anderson said of Senior Day. “I couldn’t imagine being with a better group of girls for my Senior Day and to have a better win than we did. It’s just awesome.”

SVSU 9 18 13 17 — 57

Tech 20 24 15 23 — 82

SVSU — Nieman 2, Wendling 27, Hall 7, Carriere 6, Settingsgard 11, Duffy 4. F: 17; Fouled out: None; Free throws: 18-21; 3-point field goals: Settingsgard. 

Tech — Kelliher 7, Anderson 20, Guy 18, Winter 17, Heise 4, Stoll 11, Botz 2, O’Brien 3. F: 17; Fouled out: None; Free throws: 17-20; 3-point field goals: Guy 6, Winter 3, Anderson 2.