Michigan Tech’s Lindsay Winter shoots a layup in the lane as Minnesota Duluth’s Katie Stark (31) and Ann Simonet (11) Monday, at the Wood Gym. (David Archambeau/Daily Mining Gazette)

HOUGHTON — Hard-earned lessons in November are usually the ones that pay off in March. And if there’s one thing the No. 21 Michigan Tech Huskies learned in their home debut against Minnesota Duluth on Monday, it’s how to win ugly. 

Tech overcame an 8 of 27 shooting performance in the third and fourth quarters and a physical Duluth team that secured 17 offensive rebounds to earn a 79-70 nonconference overtime win over the Bulldogs at the Wood Gym. 

Senior Hannah Stoll paced the Huskies (5-0) with a career-high 18 points, while Lindsay Winter, on the day she was named the GLIAC North Player of the Week for the second straight time, tallied a double-double with 17 points and 11 rebounds. Senior Kelli Guy also added 17 points.  

“It was just gutsy,” Tech coach Kim Cameron said. “We have to be able to count on a little bit of toughness and a little bit of grit and overcome some adversity. It’s not going to be easy. Duluth came in here and gave us everything they had.”

Thanks to a 7-0 run by Guy before the first half ended, Tech took a 39-25 halftime lead. But the Huskies’ biggest offensive lull of the night allowed a resilient Duluth team to eventually take a 58-54 lead on an 18-1 run. Tech went without a field goal for the first 6:22 of the fourth quarter and scored just a single point until a layup by Winter ended the drought. 

“We have to move the ball,” Cameron said of the reasoning behind the offensive droughts. Tech missed its first five shots of the fourth and shot just 2 of 10 for the quarter. “We have to get the ball inside or swing it, get rotations one way or the other. It’s too easy right now for the defense. They’re just standing in the same spot and never have to figure it out. We’re not forcing them in any closeouts or forcing them to exchange at all. We’re going to work on that.”

During the first seven years under Cameron, the Huskies built a winning tradition at home, going 96-9 when playing at the Wood Gym. Whoever the opponent and whatever the situation, Tech has usually figured it out. Just as they did on Monday in front of a crowd of 629.

A block at the basket by Tech senior Elizabeth Kelliher set up a transition 3 from the right wing by Guy for a 61-58 advantage with 2:05 left. Still, the momentum didn’t last long and Duluth (1-1) tied it on the next possession courtesy of a 3-point play by junior Sammy Kozlowski, who finished with 19 points and 11 rebounds. 

Neither team scored the rest of the way in regulation, and the Tech faithful let out its loudest cheer of the night when Kelliher drove the lane and converted a layup with 0.6 seconds left. But the basket was waved off as Duluth sophomore Katie Stark drew an offensive foul.

That only delayed the inevitable as Tech dominated the overtime session, converting 5 of 7 shot attempts and never trailing. A midrange jumper by senior Brenna Heise made it 63-61, and Winter converted a driving layup as she was fouled. She delivered an emphatic fist pump in celebration before knocking down a free throw for the 3-point play and a 68-62 lead with 2:38 remaining. She scored seven of her 17 points in the five-minute overtime.

“At the end of regulation, I missed some big shots and I knew that,” Winter said. “I was pretty upset about that. We knew in overtime it was our chance to bounce back. Everyone did that. People hit big shots, and we just weren’t going to lose on our home court.”

Next, Tech will head back on the road to St. Paul, Minnesota with a matchup Friday against Augustana before facing Concordia-St. Paul on Saturday to complete a span of six road games in its first seven contests.

“I’m proud of our players,” Cameron said of her team’s 5-0 start. “We scheduled a really hard nonconference schedule, and I’m proud of how they handled everything. We have two more really, really tough games … We’re learning from everything and have been put in a lot of different situations. I’m proud of our team.”

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Duluth 14 11 20 16 9 — 70

Tech 22 17 14 8 18 — 79

Duluth — Stark 11, Grow 9, Simonet 5, Kozlowski 19, Boehm 10, Porte 2, Kahl 8, Monke 6. F: 22; Fouled out: Kozlowski; Free throws: 12-20; 3-point field goals: Boehm 2, Kozlowski, Kahl. 

Tech — Stoll 18, Kelliher 6, Guy 17, Winter 17, Heise 14, Hobson 3, McGirk 2, LaFave 2. F: 16; Fouled out: None; Free throws: 14-19; 3-point field goals: Winter 3, Hobson, Stoll.