ALLENDALE, Mich. — The battle for the lead in the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference lived up to billing as No. 4-ranked Michigan Tech outlasted Grand Valley State 75-71 in double overtime tonight at the GVSU Fieldhouse. Katie Wysocky scored a layup as the buzzer sounded in the first overtime to force the extra five minutes, and Katie Zimmerman iced the game at the free throw line in the second OT.
The win was the Huskies’ seventh straight and gave them a 17-1 overall record and 12-1 league slate. GVSU (14-4 overall) fell to a game behind Tech in the GLIAC standings at 11-2.
Tech had a 52-50 lead late in regulation after Zimmerman scored six straight points with three free throws and a 3-pointer. GVSU tied the game on a layup with 1:23 to go, and the defenses prevailed the rest of the way sending the game into overtime at 52-all.
GVSU built up a five-point lead—the largest advantage by either team after halftime—two minutes into the extra session. Tech erased the deficit in less than a minute with back-to-back 3-pointers from Sarah Stream and Zimmerman. The visitors had two chances to add to the lead but missed a jumper and threw a defensive rebound right back to the hosts.
The Lakers turned the steal into an Emma Veach 3-pointer with :30 showing for a 61-59 advantage. Stream’s attempt to tie the game with 14 seconds left was blocked, and the Huskies were forced to foul. Because they were only at three team fouls for the second half, Tech had to foul four straight times to put GVSU at the line.
Veach missed the front end of the 1-and-1 with nine seconds left, and Stream drove the length of the floor before dishing off to Wysocky, who barely beat the buzzer with a layup.
In the second overtime, the teams traded three baskets apiece before Wysocky’s layup with :25 left put the Huskies on top for good. The Black and Gold defense created a steal on the defensive end, and Zimmerman made four straight free throws for the victory.
“I’m glad we got the win,” said head coach John Barnes. “Our post players really struggled tonight. We missed free throws and turned it over way too much. It shows the character of our team that we didn’t play our best game but still found a way to win.”
The defenses were stout in a cleanly-played game that featured only 23 fouls and 25 turnovers combined. Tech shot 44 percent from the floor including 54 percent in the overtimes. GVSU shot 42 percent for the game and 53 percent after regulation.
Tech opened up a 14-4 lead in the first six minutes of the game using strong defense. GVSU switched to a 3-2 zone defense and slowed down the Huskies offense. That change allowed the Lakers to pull back into a 24-all tie in the final two minutes. Five straight points on a Tara Ferris reverse layup and a Stream 3-pointer put the Huskies up 29-24 before the hosts closed within 29-28 at the half.
There were 10 lead changes and 13 ties in the second half and overtimes.
Wysocky finished with game highs of 21 points and 14 rebounds. Zimmerman tallied 19 points and five boards. The two accounted for 18 of the team’s 23 points after regulation.
Stream notched 12 points and dished out seven assists including the critical one to Wysocky to force a second overtime.
Veach tallied 19 points and nine rebounds to pace the Lakers.
Michigan Tech will play the last of its four-game road swing Saturday (Jan. 30) at Ferris State at 1 p.m.
Photo Credit: Michigan Tech
