Michigan Tech’s Elizabeth Kelliher dives to gain possession against Tiffin Saturday at the Wood Gym. (David Archambeau/Daily Mining Gazette)

HOUGHTON — With the numbers to her advantage, Tech senior Lindsay Winter pushed the ball up the court and fired a pass to senior Kelli Guy on the left wing. Guy planted her feet underneath her and launched the transition 3 off the catch. 

Swish. 

If there were thoughts about a hangover from Tech’s 35-point loss to Ashland on Thursday, or that the confidence of the Tech players would be shaken, any notion of those ideas was dashed when Guy’s 3 found the bottom of the net for an 8-0 run. 

Tech bounced back in dominant fashion, defeating the Tiffin Dragons 79-42 Saturday at the Wood Gym to secure its spot atop the GLIAC North standings. 

Junior Elizabeth Kelliher paced the Huskies with 14 points, while junior Michelle LaFave added 11 points off the bench. 

“I felt like we were mature enough to handle what happened to us (on Thursday),” Tech coach Kim Cameron said. “I guess I did expect us (to bounce back). I think that what happened Thursday is more of motivation for us as opposed to being any sort of detriment moving forward, and we responded well.”

Guy’s 3 was part of a 25-2 run that effectively sealed the game’s outcome. After trailing 9-3, Winter swished a 3 of her own for a 28-11 advantage with 8:03 remaining in the second quarter.

Tiffin coach Jason Mishler used four timeouts in the first 13 minutes of the game in an attempt to kill the Huskies’ momentum. It didn’t matter. Soon Mishler, after punching the scores table and coaching in exuberant fashion all over the sideline, was forced to take a seat in dejected fashion as his team had no answer for Tech.

The Huskies converted 8 of 10 attempts from 3 in the first half before finishing 11 of 20 (55 percent), looking more like the team that entered 11th in the country in 3-point shooting. 

“I felt like overall, our team made the extra pass the entire day,” Cameron said. “I think that we were finding the open person and getting the right person the shot for our team.”

Overall, Tech shot 31 of 59 (53 percent) as Kelliher took advantage of her opportunities in the post, scoring on 5 of 7 shot attempts while shooting 4 of 5 from the free-throw line. It’s her first contest in four games that she’s reached double digits. 

“I think that we had a lot of success getting the ball in early,” Kelliher said. “When I was able to get seals and position early, it made it a lot easier so I could just catch and go up strong. The guards did a good job of finding me.”

Tech continued to get contributions from its bench with LaFave following her career-high 17 points against Ashland with another efficient performance (5 of 8). Sophomore Hannah Hobson also added 10 points off the bench — a career-high for her. 

“My teammates have been doing a good job of finding me when I’m open and getting me the ball,” LaFave said. “It’s given me an opportunity to drive or create off of it. I get some open looks on jumpers, and I’m able to get it in the post. Today, they were playing behind so we got a lot of looks inside and I was able to score that way.”

The Huskies held a 31-25 edge on the boards and managed to limit Tiffin to 17 of 54 shooting (32 percent). 

Next, Tech heads to Ferris State on Thursday before finishing the road trip at Laker Superior State on Saturday.

– – – 

Tiffin 11 10 10 11 — 42

Tech 23 23 20 13 — 79

Tiffin — Cummings 5, Jackson 4, May 7, Schirmer 16, Burdo 2, Santucci 1, Concepcion 3, Fire 4. F: 10; Fouled out: None; Free throws: 5-8; 3-point field goals: Schirmer 3. 

Tech — Stoll 8, Kelliher 14, Guy 8, Winter 9, Heise 10, Jurmu 7, Hobson 10, McGirk 2, LaFave 11. F: 12; Fouled out: None; Free throws: 6-7; 3-point field goals: Winter 3, Heise 2, Guy 2, Hobson 2, Jurmu, LaFave.