Michigan Tech freshman Isabella Lenz (23) defends against Northern Michigan on Monday, Dec. 6, 2021, in Houghton, Mich. (David Archambeau/For the Gazette)

HOUGHTON — Katelyn Meister scored 20 points to lead Michigan Tech in a 78-53 rout of rival Northern Michigan on Monday.

It was the fourth straight win for the Huskies (7-1, 2-0 GLIAC) after dominating the Wildcats in the paint. Tech outscored the Wildcats 48-18 in the paint and used a fast rhythm to overwhelm NMU.

The Wildcats (5-3, 1-1) were led by Makaylee Kuhn’s 19 points.

“Katelyn was really good for us,” Michigan Tech head coach Sam (Hoyt) Clayton said. “She has been very efficient because she makes great reads both attacking on the perimeter and posting up and making a move. She really does a good job making fakes and then taking what the defense gives her.”

Meister shot 9 of 11 with four assists, a block and a steal. Ellie Mackay scored 15 points for the Huskies. Alex Rondorf scored 10 points with three steals, two rebounds and two assists.

“We out-hustled them tonight,” Rondorf said. “We stuck to our game plan and trusted what coach was telling us and that made the difference today. We didn’t want to give them anything easy. Just trusting in our teammates and playing composed was what we tried to do.”

The Huskies were slow out of the gate but picked up rhythm as the game progressed, forcing 16 Wildcats turnovers along the way.

“It was great to see us adjust and trust our offense after a slow start in the first few minutes,” Clayton said. “Then we created some good runs. We got rhythm threes and some chances at the rim in transition.”

Tech led 41-29 at halftime.

Northern Michigan shot 30% on field goals and 20% on 3-pointers. The Huskies shot 54% from the field and 42% from long range.

“It was nice to get contributions from pretty much everybody in various ways,” Clayton said. “Defensively, I thought our urgency was good. We outscored them by a wide margin, which was phenomenal. I’m really proud of our effort in that area because it’s not easy to do against a team that has several players over 6-foot-2.”

Michigan Tech hosts Lake Superior State at 5:30 p.m. Thursday.