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Nationally-ranked Huskies back on road

HOUGHTON — The Michigan Tech Huskies wanted to challenge themselves when they settled on a nonconference schedule that included six of the first seven games on the road. 

So far, they’ve met each of those challenges successfully. 

Tech sits at 5-0 and earned a No. 10 ranking in the latest Women’s Basketball Coaches Association Poll. The Huskies will close their nonconference schedule with matchups at St. Paul, Minnesota, starting with Augustana today at 3 p.m. and Concordia-St. Paul at 5 p.m. on Saturday. 

“I want to use all the experiences we had so far in the nonconference schedule and continue to grow,” Tech coach Kim Cameron said. “There’s been a lot where we’ve stumbled through and a lot of good, but we have to continue to get better and improve on the things that are holding us back on being great.”

One area Tech will need to improve on from its 79-70 overtime win over Minnesota-Duluth on Monday is defending the offensive glass. The Bulldogs secured 17 offensive boards against Tech that resulted in 14 second-chance points. 

“We need to be tougher on the boards,” Cameron said. “We need to not use our size as an excuse for not getting rebounds because a lot of that is about toughness. 

“We need to challenge our post players to be more aggressive and swallow rebounds. We missed a lot of opportunities (Monday) where our timing is off and that’s unacceptable at home.”

Tech’s best rebounder so far has been senior Lindsay Winter. Despite standing at just 5-foot-6, Winter leads the Huskies and the GLIAC with 9.8 rebounds per game. 

“I think a big thing with guards is that they don’t necessarily like to box out or look to box out on the perimeter,” Winter said, “so as long as I crash and find some openings, or if the post tips it around, I just try to go in there and clean it up.”

Winter has also emerged as the team’s top scorer this season after the graduation of Morgan Anderson. She’s averaging 18.2 points per game while shooting 55 percent from the field and 44 percent from 3-point range. It’s a completely different start compared to last season when she missed the first five games due to injury. 

“It’s awesome,” Winter said of being healthy this year. “It seems that everyone on our team is pretty healthy right now, and we’re all really excited for what’s to come.”

Tech has three other players that are currently averaging double digits: senior Kelli Guy (14.8), junior Elizabeth Kelliher (10.2) and senior Hannah Stoll (10.2), giving the Huskies a balanced attack. 

Guy also has the second-best 3-point percentage in the GLIAC (54.5) while averaging 3.6 makes on 6.6 attempts. 

“A lot of these people have put in a ton of time and are able to show off and flourish,” Cameron said. “I think even the names you’re familiar with have continued to get better. Lindsay Winter is on another level. Kelli Guy is at a different level, and Hannah Stoll has been able to help them out.

“And then there’s Sarah LewAllen and her quiet way of being able to shut people down, defensively. Michelle LaFave coming in and giving us not only points off the bench but is also a really good passer.”

LaFave has scored double digits in three of Tech’s last four games, recording 10, 14 and 10 points.

Tech will return to the Wood Gym next weekend for the start of the GLIAC schedule when they host Saginaw Valley State on Thursday and Northwood on Saturday. 

“They have a want inside of them. They want this for themselves, which is fantastic,” Cameron said of her team’s desire to succeed. “They want to be special.”

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