Michigan Tech guard Isabella Lenz drives between defenders during a game against Minnesota State-Crookston Saturday, Nov. 16, at the SDC Gym in Houghton. (David Archambeau/For the Gazette)

HOUGHTON — It is very easy to forget that the Michigan Tech Huskies women’s basketball team is actually very young. They feature a roster with one senior starter, a fifth-year starter who has missed significant time with an injury before transferring to Michigan Tech, a sophomore who played sparingly as a freshman, and a freshman, all alongside one sophomore who started much of last season.

So, even coach Sam Clayton has to remind herself her team, which has started the year 2-4, is really that young.

“I’ll get frustrated at certain things and then be like, ‘Oh, that’s a freshman. That’s a freshman mistake.’ And, I did that as a freshman, for sure,” she said. “Part of that is learning our defensive principles, executing some things, like late game, or sophomores or things like that, because we are pretty young.

“I do think they’re super capable players, as we’ve seen. I mean, Kendall (Standfest) is coming up with double doubles, scoring in double figures. She hits big shots. She plays super confident. Dani (Nuest) playing point guard as a sophomore, and (this is the) first year getting significant minutes, is doing a good job taking care of the ball for us. So, we’ll get there. I truly believe that this team has put in so much time and their chemistry is so good. I know as we get to play together more, we’re going to be just fine.”

Clayton felt that she saw some significant growth between Saturday’s game against St. Cloud State, and Sunday’s contest against Minnesota-Duluth.

“Overall, this weekend, we took a step,” she said. “I thought Saturday, we did not execute defensively very well. They kind of got all the looks they wanted, so that was more of a disappointing game, I would say, for us. But then on Sunday, I really thought the defensive urgency picked up. We made them take tougher shots. They made some tougher shots, but just to have this younger team in a close game like that, I mean, both were pretty close games back and forth is great for us.

“We’re learning every single game. Not to make excuses, but we didn’t even get a preseason. We haven’t gotten to go 5-on-5, barely at all. So we’re putting things together as we go here, finally getting some lineups together, and I think we’re heading in the right direction now.”

While the rest of the team gets up to speed, Clayton is leaning on senior guard Isabella Lenz. The fourth-year starter crossed the 1,000-point plateau over the weekend, and has really developed into a leader.

“I think Bella has taken on that leadership role since the end of last season,” Clayton said.

“I think she’s kind of taken the team under her wing, and let them know what it takes to be great here. Then, she not only says it, she does it. So, she’s putting in all the extra time, and, in close games, she is stepping up for us. We’re putting the ball in her hands, and making big decisions, and I’ll continue to do that. She got a great look late against Duluth that was in and out and there’s nothing you can do there. It was a great shot. There’s so many other plays that lead to the win or the loss. But yeah, she has stepped up as a leader for us in every aspect, and I know she (will) continue to do so.”

With as good as Standfest, a freshman, has been, and Nuest, a sophomore, one other player that has grown quickly into her role is fifth-year forward Janie Tormanen.

“I think Janie’s another one that just…she brings off the floor so much that you don’t even see on the floor,” said Clayton. “Her energy, the way she gets the team together and just gets people laughing, that really helps us. She just has that big personality. If you meet her, you’ll fall in love with her. But then on the floor, she does bring a good post presence. Defensively, she flies around, gets tips. Offensively, we can get it into her and she’s going to get a great look.

“She’s finishing at a really high percentage, so we want to keep getting her touches in there. But, she has the versatility to step out on the perimeter too. If she’s in there with Maja (Kozlowska) or things like that. She can defend multiple positions. She rebounds really well. So, there’s a lot of things that she brings to the table, too. Again, she’s just getting back into playing after being out a couple months here. So, yeah, getting her legs under her, her lungs back, all of that. We haven’t seen the highest ceiling of what she can do either.”

SCOUTING THE GOLDEN BEARS

The Concordia-St. Paul Golden Bears come into this weekend 6-0 on the season after defeating Winona State on Tuesday.

They are led by junior guard Lydia Haack, who is averaging 17.2 points per game. Senior center Lindsey Becher is also off to a good start, averaging 12.8 points per game. Junior guard Leah Dengerud is the other player in double figures, averaging 10.5 points per game.

SCOUTING THE WARRIORS

The Winona State Warriors are 4-2 to start the season after falling to the Golden Bears on Tuesday, ending a four-game winning streak.

The Warriors have three guards averaging in double figures. Senior Olivia Gamoke leads, averaging 16.2 points per game. Junior Hailey Markworth is averaging 13.2 points per game. Fifth-year Mattie Schimenz is averaging 10.5 points per game. All three are shooting over 34% from beyond the arc.

GAME TIMES

The Huskies and Golden Bear are set for an opening tip of 2 p.m. Saturday at the SDC Gym. Sunday, the Huskies and Warriors will do battle at 2 p.m.