HAMMOND, Ind. -- Purdue Northwest women's basketball returned to action Friday following a 10-month hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but the Pride couldn't shake the cobwebs loose in a 67-44 setback to Michigan Tech inside the Fitness and Recreation Center.
Sophomore
Savaya Brockington scored 10 points and grabbed nine boards as PNW struggled to find its touch from the floor. Freshman
Dash Shaw also reached double figures with 10 points and three steals in her regular-season debut.
Michigan Tech (1-0, 1-0 GLIAC) raced out to a 19-3 lead and never looked back as PNW made only one field goal in the first quarter.
PNW (0-1, 0-1 GLIAC) flashed a little spark to open the second when Brockington's three-pointer trimmed the deficit to 10, but that was as close as the Pride would get the rest of the way. MTU built a 34-18 lead at halftime and cruised in the final two frames. The Huskies shot 57 percent in the first quarter and finished with an overall shooting mark of 47 percent, while the Pride shot 27 percent overall and logged just two assists. MTU also shot it better at the free-throw line, going 16 of 22 (73%) while PNW went 12 of 21 (57%) overall at the charity stripe.
Despite the slow start, PNW opened the third on a 7-4 run which made the score 38-25 and brought back a little life to the Pride midway through the period. However, the Huskies were lethal from beyond the arc, going 9 of 24 (38%) from range, as back-to-back treys from Alex Rondorf snatched the momentum back to the visitor sideline.
MTU was led by Ellie Mackay who scored a game-high 17 points on 6-of-11 shooting including three three-pointers. Rondorf also drilled three treys and finished with 13 points while Sloane Zenner recorded 12 points in 12 minutes off the bench for the Huskies.
The effects of the long layoff were evident as both sides registered double-digit steals. PNW had 24 turnovers in the contest while the visitors also had 20 turnovers. Rebounding was nearly even as MTU held the slight edge on the glass, 37-36.
PNW moves to 1-3 in season openers since joining Division II and will look to snap an eight-game losing streak in GLIAC play when these teams face each other tomorrow.
NEXT UP
Tipoff is scheduled for 3 p.m. CST at the Fitness and Recreation Center. No fans are permitted due to league guidelines. The game can be viewed live on JED TV here:
https://jean-x.weebly.com/pnw-athletics.html
