Hulking defenseman John Scott has spent the last month with the Minnesota Wild since March 8, as the Wild have been pushing for the NHL playoffs. After playing 44 games and earning 111 penalty minutes for the Wild’s American Hockey League affiliate, the Houston Aeros, Scott has provided some punch and much needed grit for the Wild, earning 21 penalty minutes in 17 total games.

The Wild currently sit three points out of a playoff spot with two games remaining, teams still in playoff contention.

Speedy forward Chris Conner has spent parts of the last three seasons with the Dallas Stars, but injuries this season have forced him into extended duty. He hasn’t disappointed, earning a career high 13 points in 36 games. He has also netted 28 points in 30 games with the Peoria Rivermen of the AHL between call-ups.

Since ending his time at Michigan Tech in 2005 Clay Wilson jumped around the UHL before stepping up to the AHL and at the end of the 2007-08 season, the NHL. Wilson played in five more games this season with the Columbus Blue Jackets before being traded to the Atlanta Thrashers. Wilson currently has 44 points in 68 AHL games, eight among AHL defenseman.

Last night Wilson made his season debut with the Atlanta Thrashers where he played nearly 15 minutes of action while putting two shots on goal and playing nearly a minute on the point of the Thrashers power play.

Wilson will likely get two more chances for the Thrashers who finish their season at home on Thursday and Saturday against the Panthers and Lightning respectively.

Another hulking blueliner, Andy Sutton, was just hitting his stride with the New York Islanders before breaking his foot in December. Before the injury, Sutton had notched two goals and 10 points in 23 games.

Former captain Colin Murphy, who scored 53 points in his final season in the Silver and Gold, has struggled to stay healthy since leaving Houghton. Signed by the Buffalo Sabres in the offseason, Murphy lost a significant portion of this season with a concussion. Despite this, Murphy has notched 25 points in 44 games for the Portland Pirates of the AHL.

In his best offensive game of the season, Murphy netted a natural hat trick on March 30, as the Portland Pirates knocked off the Manchester Monarchs. He has nine points in his last seven games. Additionally, he’s been wearing an assistant captain’s letter as of late.

Former assistant captain Geoff Kinrade has played in four games since joining the defensive corps of the Norfolk Admirals of the AHL. The Admirals have no chance of making the AHL Playoffs, but Kinrade is enjoying some quality playing time just the same.

Informed within minutes of joining the squad that he would be in the lineup, Kinrade celebrated the opportunity by notching his first career goal on his first career shot on March 20 against the Binghampton Senators.

Goaltender Michael-Lee Teslak, who left the Huskies before his senior season, spent a large chunk of the first half of the season with the Philadelphia Phantoms while their parent squad, the Philadelphia Flyers, struggled with their goaltending. Unfortunately, he didn’t see any action during the confusion.

The Phantoms finally moved Teslak to the Elmira Jackals in the East Coast Hockey League around mid-season to give him some game time, and all he’s done is lead the Jackals to first place in the North Division and a playoff spot. Teslak is 17-10-1-3 in 33 games this season and has one shutout.

Forward Chris Durno is currently tied for the team lead in scoring with 43 points for the Lake Erie Monsters. Durno’s 17 goals are tops on the squad, but it won’t be enough to push the Monsters into playoff contention in the AHL’s Western Conference. Durno has performed quite well as of late, with four points in his last four games.

Scoring winger Tyler Shelast and former captain Jimmy Kerr are both competing for the Idaho Steelheads, who sit third in the ECHL’s National Conference standings. Shelast has 21 points in 30 games despite bouncing between the Steelheads and the Hamilton Bulldogs of the AHL.

Kerr picked up one point in seven games for the Steelheads before taking a nasty elbow to the head.

Former captain Brett Engelhardt left the American ice arenas this fall for the larger ice surfaces in the German Elite League. Playing wing for the Augsburg Panthers of the DEL, Engelhardt has 16 goals, good for third on the team, and 35 points, good for fourth on the team.

Forwards Tyler Skworchinski and Peter Rouleau have helped lead the Texas Brahmas of the Central Hockey League to a first place finish in the Southeast Division. Skworchinski finished the regular season with 16 goals and 38 points while Rouleau netted 13 goals and 36 points.

In the playoffs, the Brahmas are up 3-0 in their Southern Conference Semifinal series and Skworchinski leads the team with four goals, including a pair in game one.

While the current squad of Huskies didn’t perform the way they wanted to night in and night out this season, former Huskies have succeeded quite well this season. One thing is clear: There is a future in hockey after Michigan Tech, and these players are leading that charge.

The problems began in goal, where senior Rob Nolan, who had won 13 games in the previous two seasons while splitting time with Michael-Lee Teslak, won just twice in 25 tries. Nolan did have the bulk of the Huskies’ seven ties as he earned five of them.

Freshman Josh Robinson, while not showing the ability to make the big saves much of the season, had an outstanding weekend in mid-December as he beat Northern Michigan on consecutive nights, becoming the first Huskies goaltender ever to do so. Robinson finished the season 4-8-2 overall in 20 appearances.

Four defensemen had very solid seasons with only one being a senior.

Junior Drew Dobson led the blueline crew in scoring with 19 points, but that number is a bit misleading as Dobson spent much of the second half of the season playing wing due to the massive number of injuries the team suffered. Dobson looked more and more comfortable with the switch the longer the season progressed and will give head coach Jamie Russell plenty to think about when setting next season’s lineup.

Sophomore Deron Cousens, who showed flashes of brilliance as a freshman, began to build on that promise with an outstanding second half, notching a career-high 16 points. His season highlight was probably the game-winning goal against Minnesota in that 6-5 overtime victory on March 6. Cousens was named the team’s Most Improved Player for his efforts.

Assistant captain Geoff Kinrade notched 16 points in his final campaign, 15 of which came in WCHA action. Kinrade was the first Huskies’ senior to leave school early this season, as he’s signed on to play with the Norfolk Admirals of the American Hockey League.

Behemoth freshman Ricky Doriott was one of two Huskies’ players to finish the season with a positive number in the plus/minus column. His +1 lead the team along with senior Malcolm Gwilliam. Neither player played a full season, but Doriott worked his way into the lineup quite a bit near the end of the season.

The clearest positions where the future is brightest are the three forward positions. As the season progressed, five underclassmen stepped up to lead the squad.

Sophomore Jordan Baker enjoyed a breakout season with 27 points in 38 games. After scoring just nine points on the strength of three goals as a freshman, Baker exploded for 16 goals and led all Huskies in shots on goal with 111. He was named Most Valuable Player.

When freshman Brett Olson first arrived on campus, he garnered comparisons to former Huskies’ captain Colin Murphy, mainly due to the fact that he came to the Huskies as an older freshman at 21. After some early-season growing pains, Olson showed that he may be the player to fill those large shoes as he netted 23 points in 38 games. More impressive, the Huskies’ Outstanding Freshman award-winner led all Huskies in WCHA action with 21 points.

Freshman Alex MacLeod achieved one of the most dubious feats seen on Michigan Tech’s campus in some time – all six of his goals for the season came on the power play. MacLeod started the season with four goals in the early stages of the season but struggled for the majority of the rest of the season. He did finish strong, however, with goals in each of the Huskies’ two playoff games.

Despite only managing seven points, which tied his freshman total, sophomore Bennett Royer continued his development into a strong two-way forward. As a freshman, Royer was a -8 in all games and -5 in WCHA play. This season, Royer finished -5 in all games but was even in WCHA tilts.

While his five points in 20 games don’t look very exciting, it’s easy to forget that freshman Peter Rohn only played in the second half of the season. Out for the first 17 games of the season due to NCAA regulations, Rohn brought some excitement to the Huskies’ lineup almost instantly. His four points in the final 14 WCHA games should improve next season as he’ll be able to hit his stride from day one.

The Huskies closed out the pre-Christmas portion of their schedule 4-14-2. The wins came over the likes of Lake Superior State, Alaska-Anchorage and Northern Michigan. The Wildcats finished third in the CCHA Playoffs.

In the second half of the season, the Huskies went 2-11-5. The five ties are especially interesting as the Huskies scored the tying goal in the third periods of four of the five. Not including the ties, the Huskies competed in 12 one-goal games, winning five of those contests.

The power play, which had hovered below 10 percent for much of the season rose to 12.2 percent before the season ended. The penalty kill finished the season at 89.2 percent.

The Huskies scored 27 third-period goals, their best period for scoring on the season. Unfortunately, the Huskies had only 50 points from their eight seniors, and the Huskies are typically a team that relies on their leadership.

While the numbers aren’t overly impressive by any stretch of the imagination, the Huskies did improve as the season progressed, and at the end of the day, that’s what fans want. The win over the Golden Gophers at the end of the season showed just what this team was truly capable of when it played 60 solid minutes.

Freshman winger Alex MacLeod notched his sixth power play marker of the season to get the Huskies the lead late in the first period. The goal, which came at 18:54, was assisted by senior center Alex Gagne, who fed MacLeod in front of the net and sophomore defenseman Deron Cousens.

A second period explosion from Sioux captain Ryan Duncan gave the Sioux a two goal lead 11:46 into the second period. Duncan was originally credited with the natural hat trick, but the second Sioux goal was later credited to Chris VandeVelde. Huskies’ head coach Jamie Russell pulled freshman goaltender Josh Robinson after the third goal in favor of senior Rob Nolan.

The Huskies cut the lead to one when sophomore winger Jordan Baker netted a power play goal of his own at 17:31. The goal, Baker’s 16th of the season, came on a four-on-three advantage and was assisted by junior winger Drew Dobson and assistant captain Geoff Kinrade.

The Sioux regained the two-goal lead five and a half minutes into the third.

Dobson cut the lead to one again with his fifth goal of the season with 3:25 to go in regulation, causing the Sioux-friendly crowd to panic. Baker and freshman defenseman Ricky Doriott both assisted on the goal.

Russell pulled Nolan with about a minute and a half to go, but the Huskies couldn’t quite get the puck past Brad Eidsness in the end.

On Friday, the Huskies slowed down the early stages of the game, keeping the Sioux at bay. The strategy frustrated the Sioux through most of the first period, until they broke through at 17:04.

In the second period, the Sioux struck twice in the first 6:08. The first tally was a power play marker at 3:00. The other was even strength. The Sioux outshot the Huskies 17-7 for the period.

Freshman winger Alex MacLeod cut the Sioux lead to two with a power play marker of his own 6:13 into the third period. Senior center Alex Gagne fed the puck to captain John Schwarz, whose shot was redirected by MacLeod past Brad Eidsness, the Sioux netminder.

The Sioux struck twice in 42 seconds around mid-period to put the game out of reach and ending Rob Nolan’s night between the pipes for the Huskies. The first goal was shorthanded, which really handcuffed the Huskies.

Former Huskies’ forward Matt Ulwelling was a linesman for the games.

Huskies Sting Gophers, Earn Split

To start Spring Break off the right way, the Huskies got three goals from Dobson on Friday, March 6, to beat the Minnesota Golden Gophers, 6-5, in overtime.

The Gophers struck just 2:21 in. Senior winger Justin St. Louis evened the game at 6:24 on a miscue by Gophers’ goalie Alex Kangas.

The Huskies exploded out of the gates in the second period, as Dobson struck twice in a 48-second span to start the second period. After Kangas was pulled, Baker gave the Huskies a three-goal lead by the time five minutes had gone by.

The second half of the period belonged to the Gophers, who pulled even with a pair of goals in the last 20 seconds.

Dobson regained the lead for the Huskies 10:19 into the third. The Gophers managed to even the game with just under four minutes left.

In the extra session, Cousens fired a shot from the point on the power play and found the back of the net to give the Huskies the win.

On Saturday, Nolan made 23 saves in a 2-0 loss as the Gophers earned the fifth and final home playoff spot.

For full details of the games, head over the MTU Lode Web site and read the live blogs.

The Gophers (14-11-7 overall, 11-10-5 WCHA) sit in a tie for fifth in the WCHA along with the Bulldogs and the St. Cloud State Huskies. All three teams currently have 27 points.

Junior forward Ryan Stoa (18-20=38) leads the Gophers in goals (18), shorthanded (3) and is tied with two others for game-winning goals (2). Freshman forward Jordan Schroeder (13-25=38) has benefitted from Stoa’s experience, tying Stoa for the team-lead in points, is tied for the team-lead in game-winning goals and leads the team in assists (25).

On the blueline, Cade Fairchild (8-21=29) has done a great job of building on a strong freshman campaign and continues the pattern of great offensive defensemen at Minnesota. Freshman Aaron Ness (2-13=15) could be the next of those as he is having a very nice freshman season.

Sophomore Alex Kangas (14-11-6 overall, 2.94 goals against average, 89.5 saves percentage) has played fairly well between the pipes for the Gophers. However, the Huskies have given him problems in each of his two seasons in the WCHA.

As the playoffs loom beyond this weekend, Russell wants the Huskies to be a tough team to play against, and the Gophers could be the first victim in that style of play. Looking ahead, the Huskies will be traveling to either North Dakota or Denver for the opening round of the WCHA Tournament.

The Fighting Sioux (21-11-4 overall, 16-6-4 WCHA) appear to be in the driver’s seat for that coveted top seed. The Sioux sit at the top of the WCHA with 36 points and have two games against the Wisconsin Badgers to boost that total. The Badgers won’t be an easy win for the Sioux, as they are still in the hunt for a home playoff spot.

The Huskies probably wouldn’t mind facing the Sioux, as they have a 1-1-1 record against the Sioux this season with the one victory coming in the third place game of the GLI in December.

Should the Sioux get swept and the Pioneers beat Colorado College Tigers on Saturday, the Huskies would get another crack at the Pioneers. The Pioneers (20-10-4, 16-8-3) sit second in the WCHA with 35 points, but only have the one game against the Tigers in which they can gain any more points.

The Huskies dropped all four meetings with the Pioneers this season, but the games in Denver in January were extremely hard-fought, and the Pioneers know that these Huskies won’t be as easy to beat as they were in early December.

On Saturday, the Huskies will honor their eight seniors who will be taking part in their final home game in a Huskies’ uniform.

Game times this weekend will be 7:07 p.m. on both Friday and Saturday nights. Look for game recaps online the morning after each game, and if you can’t make it to the game, there will be a live blog on the Lode’s Web site.

The Huskies (5-22-7 overall, 1-18-7 WCHA) broke the scoreless tie on their second good opportunity of the night.

Sophomore winger Jordan Baker stole the puck at his own blueline, blew past a Bulldogs’ defenseman, cut in on Bulldogs’ netminder Alex Stalock and beat him with a deke to his backhand. The goal, Baker’s 14th of the season, came at 7:39.

“The pucks are just coming to me right now,” said Baker. “I just saw the opportunity there and poked the puck by (the defenseman).”

The Huskies did a great job of forechecking for the next couple of shifts, and it looked like the Huskies might hold on to this lead, but the Bulldogs (16-9-7 overall, 10-8-6 WCHA) had other ideas.

The Bulldogs evened the game at 11:36.

In the second period, the Huskies had a golden opportunity to regain the one-goal lead as Baker and freshman forward Peter Rohn skated in on a two-on-one, but Baker’s shot sailed over Stalock and the net.

The Bulldogs took their only lead of the game on the power play at 13:31.

The Huskies needed to come out hard in the third period to make up for struggling through the second, and senior winger Derek Kitti evened the game 7:08 into the third as he one-timed a pass from junior defenseman John Kivisto. Kivisto picked the puck up off the boards to feed Kitti for his third goal of the season.

“We were trying to get a lot of pucks to the net,” said Kitti. “Kivisto was just able to get a pass to me, and I put it in.”

After forcing the Bulldogs to ice the puck with about a minute left in regulation, both Baker and freshman center Brett Olson had outstanding chances to give the Huskies the lead, but neither could find a seam in Stalock.

In the extra session, Baker had two great chances in front of Stalock off a pass from Dobson but couldn’t manage to bury either one.

With the seven ties, the Huskies tied the WCHA record for ties in league play.

Special teams success was the story Friday night, as the Bulldogs had two power play goals and one shorthanded goal en route to a 4-1 win over the Huskies.

Olson got the Huskies the lead when he netted his sixth power play marker of the season. Olson took a pass from sophomore defenseman Deron Cousens across the rink and buried a wrist shot at 4:28. Assistant captain Geoff Kinrade also assisted on the goal.

“We knew that we wanted to come and jump on them right away,” said Olson. “Once we start moving the puck well, we are dangerous.”

The Bulldogs answered back a little over a minute later at 5:31 with a power play goal. They took the lead with another power play goal 3:58 into the third period.

On the fifth Huskies’ power play, the Bulldogs extended their lead to three with a shorthanded marker at 18:28.

Russell called a timeout to try to rally his troops and pulled Robinson for the final minute of play, but the Bulldogs intercepted a pass at their own blueline, fed a forward on the move, and he notched an empty netter to ice the game.

The Huskies are off this weekend to rest up before taking on the No. 14 Minnesota Golden Gophers, whose ranking is sure to fall given the fact that they were swept by the No. 18 Colorado College Tigers over the weekend.

The former top-ranked Gophers now sit seventh in the WCHA with just one win in their last eight games.

“I thought both were great games,” said head coach John Barnes. “Against Findlay, I think we defended very well. Audra Mihalic, who had 32 points against us the first game, had only two points Thursday.”

Against Findlay University, the Huskies were dominant with an 84-47 victory, following a refocusing of their goals and mindset in the face of their previous week’s road loss to Ferris State University. Alicia Schneider led the charge in a game that saw the Huskies make 22 points off of turnovers, 30 points in the paint and 33 bench points.

“Alicia Schneider had an outstanding game,” said Barnes.

“Our only senior was 5-6 from three point range for 15 points.”

Aside from playing strong offense, Michigan Tech committed just six turnovers. With the win on Thursday, Michigan Tech positioned themselves well for hosting the GLIAC tournament.

Fans had no reason to be disappointed on Saturday when the Huskies dropped their match up with No. 5 Hillsdale after a long, hard fought battle. The 98-91 score did not pay justice to the efforts of either teams’ strong play, and Michigan Tech stayed true to their goals of minimizing turnovers and playing strong defense.

“Hillsdale I thought was a game where it was two teams who just couldn’t stop each other,” said Barnes.

The Huskies had a six point lead at the half, but the baskets kept falling for the Chargers in the second, where they shot for 66.7 percent. Hillsdale forward Katie Cezat caused problems for the Huskies with 30 points and 18 rebounds. Her teammates, Katie Eckinger and Brooke Knight, grabbed 20 points each, and Janay Miller chipped in 14.

Of Cezat, Barnes explained, “She’s an unbelievably great player. She carried them down the stretch and gave them enough points to pull through.”

Michigan Tech struggled at the basket in rebounding. Hillsdale grabbed 36 rebounds compared to the Huskies 25 and were able to attain a 14-5 advantage in second chance points.

“We only shot 35 percent from three, which is below our average,” explained Barnes of uncharacteristic Husky play. “They just had a little more fire power down the stretch.”

Sarah Stream and Katie Wysocky both tied their career high points in the battle of the top two GLIAC teams with 24 and 27 points, respectively. Stream also joined Wysocky in the books as one of few Huskies that have scored over 1,000 career points. Both women are juniors.

While both Hillsdale and Michigan Tech share the same GLIAC record at 17-3, the Huskies have ownership of the tie breaker to host the GLIAC tournament if they win their last two games this week against Lake Superior State University and Saginaw Valley State University. Both games will be away. Michigan Tech presently owns a 20-5 overall record. For more information, visit www.athletics.mtu.edu and click on women’s basketball.

Sophomore forward Justin Fontaine (12-25=37) leads the team in assists (25), power play goals (9), and is tied with senior forward MacGregor Sharp (12-16=28) in goals (12). Fontaine sits in a tie for seventh in the nation in points.

On the blueline, senior Josh Meyers (7-15=22) is having an excellent senior season. All seven on Meyers’ goals have come on the man advantage. Sophomore Evan Oberg (6-12=18) is in the midst of a breakout sophomore campaign.

Junior Alex Stalock (14-9-6 overall, 2.21 goals against average, .922 save percentage) has been a mainstay between the pipes for head coach Scott Sandelin. His 14 wins are a career high.

With his assist on Saturday night, freshman center Brett Olson (9-12=21) leads the Huskies in points (21). Sophomore winger Jordan Baker (13-7=20), with his three goals against St. Cloud, now leads the Huskies in goals (13), power play goals (5) and game-winning goals (2).

Assistant captain Geoff Kinrade (3-10=13) and junior Drew Dobson (1-12=13) are tied for team lead in points by a defenseman, although Dobson’s been playing wing the last few weeks.

With his performance over the weekend, freshman Josh Robinson (3-7-1 overall, 2.98 goals against average, 88.8 saves percentage) continues to get stronger.

Game times this weekend will be 7:07 p.m. both nights.

This week, in their last two home games of the year, the No. 12 ranked Huskies will host both the Oilers and Chargers.

“[They’re] big games. They’re both going to be extremely fun,” said Ferris. “We came back to win both games in the last few seconds.”

Expected to be “hard fought games for sure,” Michigan Tech is preparing by staying focused and tightening up their defense/committing fewer turnovers.

“We started our conference games 15-0,” said Ferris. “In the past couple games that we lost, we had 18-19 turnovers.” Prior, “we were leading the nation in the least amount of turnovers – at one point, we were only averaging 11 turnovers a game.”

With that kind of strategy in mind, the Huskies will see Findlay first. With a recent win over the Wayne State Warriors, Findlay improved to 7-11 in conference and 12-11 overall. The Oilers grabbed a quarter of their 80 points from the bench and relied on the skills of four players to do the double digit work. Guard Jessica Vorst and center Laura Bardell had 18 points each, while fellow guard Audra Mihalic added 15 and Ashley Westenbarger 11. A 46-32 rebounding advantage helped to claim the victory in addition to eight steals. Findlay committed 14 turnovers, but they also showed that they are a team not afraid to pass the ball and make plays. The Oilers recorded 19 assists before finishing the game 13 points ahead, 80-67.

The Huskies will need to keep their eyes on this team and anticipate Findlay’s passing options.

As the week proceeds, Michigan Tech won’t see the competition get any easier. Hillsdale College’s program holds the No. 1 ranking in the GLIAC South Division and the best record of any GLIAC team overall at 21-2, with a conference record matching the Huskies at 16-2. The game will be an important one because it will ultimately be decisive in who hosts the GLIAC tournament. Since their loss to Michigan Tech, Hillsdale has remained undefeated, pulling out a close win over Northwood University this weekend. The Hillsdale home game came out in favor of the Chargers 80-75 in overtime play.

While Hillsdale shot just 40.7 percent as a team, Michigan Tech will have to watch out for forward Katie Cezat, who had a team high double double 28 points and 28 rebounds in the win. Cezat has garnered many GLIAC player of the week accolades and has proven an essential contribution for the Chargers. Her teammates are no different. Brooke Knight contributed a not-to-be overlooked 18 points, 12 rebounds and seven assists.

Needless to say, Michigan Tech will have two challenging games ahead of them this week. They will meet with Findlay for a 5:30 p.m. match up Thursday, Feb. 19 and tip off against Hillsdale at 1 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 21. Both games will be played at the SDC wood gym.

“It is a tough rink to play in,” said Russell. “But at this time of year our team should be mentally able to understand momentum and control it.”

Sophomore forward Garrett Roe (14-26=40) leads St. Cloud in assists (26), points (40) and penalty minutes (64). Junior Ryan Lasch (16-20=36) leads St. Cloud in goals (16) and game-winning goals (3). Both are tied for the team-lead in power play goals (8).

Roe is currently second in the nation in points, trailing only Bryan Leitch of Quinnpiac. Lasch is currently sixth in the nation in points.

Junior Garrett Raboin (8-20=28) leads a fairly young blueline corps in goals (8), assists (20) and points (28). Freshman Sam Zabkowicz (3-8=11) is learning quickly from playing alongside Raboin.

Jase Weslosky (13-9-1 overall, 2.68 goals against average, 91.5 saves percentage), a junior, isn’t having his best season stats-wise, but he needs just three more wins to set a new career high.

St. Cloud has been Russell’s nemesis during his six-year tenure at Michigan Tech. In his five seasons with the Huskies, Russell has amassed a 1-13-2 record against St. Cloud, with the only win coming in Nov. 11, 2005. That game was a 3-2 overtime win for the Huskies.

“We need to play well on specialty teams and have a consistent 120 minute approach to the weekend,” said Russell.

Speaking of the Huskies, freshman center Brett Olson (9-11=20) now leads the Huskies in points (20) and is tied for the team-lead in assists (11) and power play goals (4). Sophomore winger Jordan Baker (10-7=17) leads the Huskies in goals (10).

Sophomore Deron Cousens (4-8=12) and junior Drew Dobson (1-11=12) are tied for the points-lead among Huskies’ blueliners.

Senior Rob Nolan (2-14-5 overall, 3.00 goals against average, 89.6 saves percentage) continues to play well, but he just can’t come out on the winning side of the scoreboard.

Tightening their defense is the main concern of the Huskies, who are 15-1 in conference play. With just six games left in the regular season, four of which are away, this will be important to the Huskies’ success. Many of Michigan Tech’s recent games have seen the women shoot well above the average team – their 62.5 percent shooting against Tiffin University last Thursday just such an example. In their loss to Ashland, the Huskies did not shoot poorly, but their lack of an overwhelming point advantage allowed other factors to come into play.

Two weeks ago, Michigan Tech came away with two victories against Grand Valley State University and Ferris State University. Vying for the top position in the GLIAC at the time, Grand Valley fell to an extra game’s disadvantage and has suffered two losses since. The Lakers were upset by the Northern Michigan University Wildcats following their loss to the Huskies. Grand Valley came out on top against Findlay by one point in their Feb. 5 match-up before falling to No. 7 ranked Hillsdale College, 75-66 on Feb. 7.

Against Hillsdale, the Lakers made eight triples, and their Emma Veach shot for 21 points. The Lakers uncharacteristically struggled at the stripe, missing eight shots.

Michigan Tech will need to control the flow of the game by defending and holding their opponents to fewer points this time around.

“Grand Valley’s one of the top teams in the region,” said women’s basketball head coach John Barnes of the Lakers, who were ranked No. 20 in Division II polls when the Huskies last played them. “We need to be mentally focused, mentally sharp and do the little things.” If the Huskies do those things and step up the defense, Barnes is confident that his team can come out on top.

Defense and taking care of the basketball has always been essential when playing Ferris State University. Coming off of an 84-65 win, the Bulldogs will be looking to continue their success. They have been on and off this year when attempting to keep a consistent string of wins. The Huskies will have a battle on their hands if Ferris State comes out shooting as they have. Four Bulldogs broke into the double digits on points, and the team as a whole shot 68 percent from the field in the second half. Forward Jenna Guay was 9-12 under the basket for a team high 19 points.

Michigan Tech will see Ferris State first this Thursday, Feb. 12 in Big Rapids, Mich. at 6 p.m. They will continue on to Allendale for a Saturday afternoon game with the Lakers before returning home for two games the following weekend against Findlay University and Hillsdale College. With a tough line-up ahead of them, Michigan Tech will need to refocus quickly. For more information on the 15-1 in GLIAC, 18-3 overall Huskies, please visit www.athletics.mtu.edu and click on women’s basketball.