Wednesday night, senior guard Ellie Mackay equaled her coach’s feat as the Huskies won their GLIAC quarterfinal matchup with the seventh-seeded Wayne State Warriors, 80-71, at the SDC Gym.

Neither Clayton nor Mackay had any idea that the latter was anywhere close to her coach’s record, but that did not matter to either of them.

“So proud of her,” said Clayton. “I mean, she deserves it. She’s a way better scorer than I ever was, so she definitely deserves it. I wish I would have got her one more shot up, something at the basket or something like that, if I had known what she was at.

“What a great game for Ellie to go off her last home game. For everyone to be able to see that, to score 37, I mean, to shoot it so well, that was that was awesome. Super exciting for her, and very well deserved with all the time she’s put in that gym.”

Michigan Tech guard Ellie Mackay drives around a Wayne State defender during a GLIAC quarterfinal game against Wayne State Wednesday at the SDC Gym in Houghton. (David Archambeau/For the Gazette)

Mackay admitted that her focus was on the task at hand.

“I don’t ever keep track of that kind of stuff,” said Mackay. “I just care about winning the game.”

For most of the night, Mackay’s consistent scoring was seemingly the only thing that was keeping the Huskies in the lead as they won their 14th game at home this season. In reality, with her points, senior guard Alex Rondorf’s 11 rebounds, and senior forward Sloane Zenner’s 10 points, all three of the team’s leaders found ways to chip in to help the Huskies advance while playing their final games at home.

“You could definitely tell our seniors were wanting to step up, and they did, in different ways, in big ways,” said Clayton. “They all played their hearts out and got to leave it all on this floor, possibly the last time they played here.”

Mackay had an impact almost from the opening tip. Just 15 seconds in, she hit her first three from the left side. Thirty seconds later, she hit another. Over the course of the night, she had seven threes, one shy of Katie Zimmerman’s school record of eight set on Jan. 30, 2010, against Ferris State.

Mackay had 13 points in the first quarter alone, which made up half of the Huskies’ 26 points in the first 10 minutes. She added seven more in the second quarter to help drive the Huskies to a 41-25 lead at halftime.

The Huskies knew that they would get some pushback from the Warriors in the second half, and a lot of that came from Maxine Moore. With just two points at half, Moore was struggling to give the Warriors a presence in the paint. In the third quarter, she had nine points, and suddenly Wayne State pulled within seven points, 43-36, before the Huskies pushed back hard in the second of the quarter and finished with a 13-point lead, 64-51.

“We knew it was going to be a tough one, especially (when) they came out firing in the second half,” Zenner said, “but we did a good job. We stuck to our defensive game plan.”

Zenner came up with two key layups in the fourth quarter as the Huskies answered everything the Warriors threw at them. Clayton was proud of the way her team bent under pressure, but never broke.

“We gave up way too many and ones at the basket, especially to some non-shooters,” Clayton said. “So, the defensive execution wasn’t where it needed to be. But, at the same time, they’re a damn good team. It’s not as easy as just taking away what you want to take away.

“So, credit to them for coming out with that fire in the second half, showing that they’re capable. (I am) also really proud of our team for bending, but not breaking, to keep the composure, to stay poised when they pulled it within 10, within seven, whatever it was. For us to be able to execute the next possession and do what we needed to to be able to move on (was huge).”

Up next

With the win, the Huskies advanced to face the sixth-seeded Ferris State Bulldogs, who defeated the Wisconsin-Parkside Rangers, 72-64. Opening tip-off is set for 4:30 p.m. at GVSU Fieldhouse in Allendale.

The Huskies beat Ferris at home on Sunday, Dec. 11, 2022, 67-52, but then fell to the Bulldogs on Thursday, Jan. 26, in Big Rapids, 63-60.

The Huskies enter the GLIAC semifinals on a five-game winning streak. Clayton is extremely proud of the way her team is finding different ways to be successful.

“I know they don’t want to be done, so I know they’re going to do everything that they can,” she said. “They’re such a great group. They just love each other. You can probably tell (by) watching them, their chemistry is unreal. So, whatever we have to do, doing the little things, sometimes it takes a little bit of luck and everything else, but we’re going to fight, claw, teeth, nail, everything we have to do to be able to keep playing here.”

The other semifinal matchup will be between Saginaw Valley State and the host school, Grand Valley State, at 2 p.m.

Scoring

WSU 15 10 26 20 – 71

MTU 26 15 23 16 – 80

WSU – Griffin 11, Tripp 15, Moore 13, Fugate 88, McArthur 8, Karasinski 8, Shagena 3, Leister 2, Cecil 3.

MTU – Zenner 10, Dax 4, Mackay 37, Rondorf 4, Lenz 11, Schaible 6, Meister 5, Leece 3.