Michigan Tech forward Maja Kozlowska (middle, black shirt) celebrates a play with her teammates during a game against Wisconsin-Parkside Saturday at De Simone Arena in Kenosha, Wisconsin. (Photo courtesy of Michigan Tech University)

KENOSHA, Wis. — The Michigan Tech Huskies women’s basketball team earned its first road win at Wisconsin-Parkside in program history in a defensive battle, coming away with a 65-60 decision on Saturday afternoon at the De Simone Arena, to complete the opening weekend of GLIAC play with a sweep.

For the fourth time this season, sophomore guard Ella Mason led the team in scoring with 18 points, including a perfect 6-for-6 from the charity stripe, joined by sophomore guard Kendall Standfest with 12 points and a team-leading six rebounds. Senior point guard Soraya Timms added eight points and recorded a career-high eight assists for the second consecutive game.

Michigan Tech moved to 5-2 on the year and 2-0 in the GLIAC. Wisconsin-Parkside dropped to 4-5 overall and 0-2 in the league with the loss.

“It feels amazing to beat Roosevelt and Parkside on the road. It feels really good and there’s a lot we need to work on, but we were pretty sharp overall today,” said Huskies assistant coach Elisa Pietila. “Parkside scored in the paint a little more than we would like, but we were really sharp from top to bottom and a good defensive effort for sure and a good win.”

Michigan Tech opened the game with a season-high 27 points in the first quarter despite trailing 11-7 at the 7:05 mark. The Huskies earned a boost from the bench with five-straight points from junior guard Dani Nuest, a free throw by sophomore guard Kloe Zentkowski and a 3-pointer from fifth-year guard Kaitlyn Maxwell to take their first lead of the day (18-13) with 3:34 to go in the quarter.

The Huskies held a two-possession lead down the stretch with four points by Standfest, a jumper from Timms and a 3-pointer by Mason to make it an eight point advantage before free throws from Wisconsin-Parkside made it 27-21 to conclude the opening 10 minutes.

Points were hard to come by for both teams in the middle two quarters as they combined for 34 points. The Huskies only mustered five points in the second quarter, while Wisconsin-Parkside suffered seven turnovers while scoring nine points to head into halftime seeing the Huskies leading 32-30 before preserving a 42-40 edge entering the fourth quarter.

The Huskies forced 18 turnovers, nine in each half, while holding the Rangers to just 5-for-27 (19%) from beyond the arc.

Wisconsin-Parkside took their first lead since early in the first quarter with 3:19 to play following an old-fashioned three-point play by Peighton Nelson (54-51), although points by Mason, junior guard Alyssa Wypych and a 3-pointer by Standfest with 1:33 to go forced Wisconsin-Parkside to call a timeout. Timms knocked down a jumper in the lane the next trip down the floor following a missed 3-pointer by the home team, forcing the Rangers to foul down the stretch, where Mason went 4-for-4 and Maxwell added an additional free throw to decide the game at 65-60 after a 3-pointer from Arni with seconds to play.

Bugajski had a team-leading 14 points and nine rebounds. Cassidy Arni (14) and Peighton Nelson (11) also reached double-digit scoring, with Nelson adding a team-high seven assists.

Up next

The Huskies take to the road for the final time in the fall semester, traveling to Missouri-St. Louis on Saturday, slated for a 2 p.m. tip.