Michigan Tech guard Ella Mason attempts a jump shot during a game against Saginaw Valley State Saturday at the SDC Gym in Houghton. (David Archambeau/For the Gazette)

HOUGHTON — It was, by no means, textbook, but a win is a win.

The Michigan Tech Huskies women’s basketball team jumped out to a 22-11 lead after one quarter, then found themselves outscored 35-19 through the second and third quarters combined, before scoring 27 points in the final 10 minutes to earn a 68-67 win over the Saginaw Valley State Cardinals.

With the win, the Huskies improved to 14-8 overall and 8-6 in GLIAC play.

“Overall, really proud of us for being able to respond to a really good Saginaw team,” said Huskies coach Sam Clayton. “I don’t care about records. They don’t matter. That’s a good team. They came out ready to play, and their interim (coach) is doing a great job with them. He’s got them playing hard. So, proud of our team for coming away with this one.”

While she finished with 11 points, making her the fourth-highest scoring Huskies player, junior forward Maja Kozlowska scored a key layup 40 seconds into the fourth quarter, which set the tone for the final minutes of the game.

“(We) needed something at the rim, and she’s someone we can go to where she’s looking to bury and catch deeper than she was, I think, earlier in the season,” said Clayton. “Sometimes when she gets it off the block, it’s just a little tougher for her to get around to things. But, she got a deep catch in there. She can offensive rebound and get those put backs where a lot of teams can’t even get to it. She finishes so high and soft.

“So, the finish to start the fourth, just to kind of get us rolling. Huge game for her. She defended well. She had a good weekend in general. I thought she had a good weekend for us.”

Sophomore guard Ella Mason followed that layup up with a pair of free throws, giving her, at that point, eight points, all from the line. However, she hit a jump shot with 5:04 left that sparked the Huskies in a big way. About 82 seconds later, she hit a baseline jumper to put the Huskies up one, 57-56.

Mason, who finished with a team-high 19 points, hit a key 3-pointer from right by the Michigan Tech bench with 1:35 left to put the Huskies up for good, 66-63.

“None of my shots were going in, but I knew, eventually, they were going to start falling,” Mason said. “Then I was able to get into my mid-range a little bit, which I haven’t been able to get into a whole lot recently. That’s a spot I’m really comfortable. Then, I think, when I’m able to get into that, it makes my life a whole lot easier.”

In the first quarter, the Huskies got a big boost from sophomore guard Kendall Standfest, who scored nine of her 16 points in the opening 10 minutes.

“Kendall had a phenomenal weekend,” said Clayton. “She has been playing so confidently the past few weeks, and I feel like on Thursday, it was kind of like the culmination. She just keeps taking steps, keeps taking steps. On the catch and shoot, she’s so confident. She’s making people come out and guard, and now she can rip by.

“She’s such a great decision-maker. She’s also a great, great passer and rebounder. So, for her to be able to just affect the game in all those facets, and she usually gets a couple blocks per game, she has stepped up, I would say, tenfold in the past few weeks, and stepped specifically this weekend. I think we saw her just starting to play to her potential.”

During the second and third quarters, the Huskies struggled to get stops on defense, and that allowed the Cardinals to chip away at things.

“We didn’t get stops,” Mason said. “Some of their girls who don’t normally hit threes are hitting threes, which is fine. We had to adjust. But, then when we’re not getting stops. We have to get better ball movement, and we weren’t really doing that. Then, I think, when we went on our runs is when we had really good ball movement. But, when they were going on runs, we needed to cheer that up, and make sure that we’re getting good reversals and really good looks.”

Up next

The Huskies start a four-game road trip next Thursday with a game against Purdue Northwest in Hammond, Indiana. They will follow that up with a game Saturday against Wayne State in Detroit.