HOUGHTON, Mich. -- The Parkside women's basketball opened the GLIAC Tournament in the Upper Peninsula at Michigan Tech on Wednesday night. The fifth seeded Rangers came into enemy territory and knocked off the Huskies in a close 51-49 battle.
"Big win against Michigan Tech! I am so incredibly proud of this group- they played so hard, were resilient, and went to battle for each other. Such a fun group to coach; it was fun to see them step up and make big plays throughout the game. I know when people hear Parkside basketball, they think about our offense- I was so proud of how our defense stepped up to make plays and finish the game. Tonight's game is the definition of survive and advance- we are looking forward to playing on Saturday," said head coach
Jen Conely after capturing her third GLIAC Tournament victory in her career.
Inside the Box Score
- In a rare low scoring contest the Rangers shot 40.4% from the field. The Huskies would struggle a bit more from the field, shooting 35% on the night.
- Parkside would have a balanced scoring night as a team. Two Rangers would reach double figures in Chloe Van Zeeland and Gabriela Loiz. Van Zeeland led the way for the Rangers with 12 points, including the go ahead basket to clinch the victory for the Rangers. Loiz would finish the night with 11 points.
- The rebounding battle was won by the Rangers 38-31. They are now 14-4 when they out rebound their opponents.
- Behind 25-24 at the half, the Rangers completed the comeback. It's their first win of the season when trailing after the first half of play.
How it Happened
The Rangers offense got rolling early in the first quarter. Outside of conceding the first basket, the Rangers would open the game on a 13-3 run. The run would force a Tech timeout. The Huskies would settle in after the timeout, scoring a quick four points in a 40 second span. The two sides would then go on a three minute scoreless drought as Michigan Tech would finally end the dry spell by converting a layup, making the score 13-11 still in favor of the Rangers. Parkside would tack on two more points on a
Sheridan Flauger floater as the first quarter would end with the Rangers leading 15-11.
Michigan Tech would come out in the second quarter and stifle the Parkside offense. The Rangers would muster just nine second quarter points while shooting just 4-12 from the field. The Rangers would turn to their defense to keep themselves in the game.
Kendal Zeiter would come up big defensively in the second quarter for the Rangers recording two blocks. She would finish the night with three of the Rangers four blocks. Parkside would head into halftime down just a point, 25-24.
Coming out of the halftime break, the Rangers would come out firing. They would go 7-14 from the field for their best shooting quarter of the night. The Rangers would keep up the defensive pressure on the Huskies, holding them to shoot just 28.6% from the field in the third frame. Much of the Rangers offense came from the inside in the third quarter of play as they would post 14 points in the paint. Their dominance inside would help them regain the lead, 41-36.
The fourth quarter would come down to the wire. The Huskies would look to chip away at the Ranger lead, knocking down three big field goals to cut the Ranger lead to just two at 44-42.
Jaelyn Derlein would hit a much needed three pointer to give the Rangers some breathing room, but the Huskies wouldn't go away easily. Tech would mount a 7-2 run to tie the game at 49 with 2:56 remaining. The game would see another scoring dry spell, this one lasting two minutes. With 51 seconds remaining
Paty Gallasova would feed
Chloe Van Zeeland inside to hit the go ahead bucket, giving the Rangers the 51-49 lead. Parkside's defense would stand tall, forcing Tech into a key turnover and missed field goal as the Rangers would hold on to win, 51-49.
Up Next
No. 5 Parkside will now travel to take on No. 1 Grand Valley State in Allendale. A start time has yet to be determined.
