SAULT STE. MARIE, Mich. - The Lake Superior State University women's basketball program (5-14, 2-9 GLIAC) fell to the Michigan Tech Huskies (17-4, 9-2 GLIAC) by a final score of 66-58 despite a strong effort on Saturday.
The Huskies were able to quickly jump out to a 5-0 lead, but the Lakers would then let it fly from distance as Mattison Rayman (Otsego, Mich.), Brittany Bowman (Kingsley, Mich.), and Margot Woughter (Traverse City, Mich.) all hit a three to propel their team to a 12-0 run of their own. The Huskies briefly retook the lead with an 8-0 run, but Rayman would then close out the quarter with three straight points, including an offensive putback on her own miss to put the Lakers up 17-15 going into the second quarter.
Both teams would continue to battle throughout the second quarter of action, but the Lakers were able to slowly extend their lead to five points with strong blocks on the defensive end from Rayman and Gracey Metz (Hartland, Mich.) before the under-five media timeout. The Huskies continued to keep hanging around, but Grace Bradford (Glen Arbor, Mich.) came away with a key steal that led to her scoring a layup in transition as the Lakers went into the locker room leading 30-28.
Rayman opened up the scoring with a tough basket down low as the Lakers quickly jumped out to a 6-0 run to start the second half, but just like in the first half, the Huskies simply would not go away as they wasted no time getting back to within two before eventually taking the lead coming out of the media timeout. However, a Jaden Wilder (Manton, Mich.) three-pointer would put the Lakers up 42-41 at the end of the third quarter.
The Huskies grinded their way to the free throw line early in the fourth quarter to retake the lead with a 9-0 run. Both teams would then continue to battle for the remainder of the game. However, Michigan Tech would ultimately nurse their lead and come away with the victory.
Despite the loss, Rayman led the way offensively with 18 points while also securing 13 rebounds for the double-double while Woughter was not far behind with 17 points of her own. Meanwhile, Bradford finished with an 11-point, 13-rebound double-double performance.
The Lakers return to action on Thursday, Feb. 2 when they travel to take on the Purdue Northwest Pride with tipoff scheduled for 6 p.m. Eastern Standard Time.