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Huskies ready to face Lewis at home on Saturday

Dave Archambeau/Daily Mining Gazette Michigan Tech’s Sloane Zenner fights for a ball on the floor during a game against Purdue Northwest last Saturday at the Wood Gym.

HOUGHTON — The Michigan Tech Huskies women’s basketball coach Sam Hoyt could not be happier. In short, she loves her job at her alma mater and, more importantly, she loves the people she works with.

That is a 6-4 team that only wants to get better.

“I love all the players, each and everyone of them,” she said. “They are a great group of young ladies who want to grow as players and want to learn and (are) willing to do what it takes.”

That willingness to learn is a good thing for Hoyt as her team is still young and are working to grow and play better basketball. Case in point is the difference in play between last Thursday night’s 62-40 loss against Parkside and a 79-54 win against Purdue Northwest the following Saturday.

The difference between the two contests was night and day, according to Hoyt.

“We looked at film on Friday and learned a ton,” she said. “We learned that we could execute better and we did on Saturday. That is a testament of the resilience of the growth of our young players to come back and play well.”

The Huskies have been hit with a number of injuries this season and Hoyt and her staff have had to call upon a number of underclassman to step up and fill the void and, so far, it is working.

“It exciting to see how our younger players are producing for us,” she said. “We have younger players who are capable of scoring. Now it is a matter of learning our defense and (then how to) execute. On top of that, they have their schooling, which is really tough. I think they are adjusting just incredible. To see Sloane Zeller, Ellie McKay and Cassidy Trotter to make strides in the last couple of games has been awesome for us.”

The Huskies have been enjoying their week off as they have had time to look at themselves and review film. They are also working on their systems.

They will need it all as they will face the No. 24-ranked Lewis University from Romeoville, Illinois, on Saturday at the SDC. The Flyers are 6-1, having won their last six in a row.

“It will be a real challenge,” Hoyt said. “It will be a good matchup as far as their personnel. They have a couple of shooting guards and are a very balanced (team) defensively. They are well coached. We know they will press, and we are going to have to execute well offensively and defensively.”

The Flyers are led by senior Jessica Kelliher (Elizabeth Kelliher’s sister) who is averaging 23.1 points and 10.3 rebounds per game while junior Rachel Hinders is contributing 13.3 points and 7.1 rebounds per contest. Seniors Gabby Green and Tierney Lockett lead the team in assists with 33 and 20 respectively.

GAME TIME

Tip-off is set for 4 p.m. Saturday at the Wood Gym.

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