ST. JOSEPH, Mo. -- Michigan Tech advanced to the NCAA Division II Women's Basketball National Championship game with an 89-78 win over Northwest Missouri State Wednesday night at the St. Joseph Civic Center.
The No. 3 Huskies (31-2) will make their first-ever appearance in the national title game on Friday against No. 2-ranked Clayton State, which defeated Shaw 63-46 in the other semifinal.
The championship game is scheduled to tip off at 7 p.m. and will be shown live on ESPN2.
Sophomore point guard Sam Hoyt led the Huskies with team highs of 23 points and seven assists. Her night overshadowed excellent performances from both Lisa Staehlin (20 points) and Lucy Dernovsek (17 points and 11 rebounds).
Lindsey Lindstrom, a junior forward and former Superior Spartan, added 12 points for Tech.
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The Huskies were outscored 42-18 in the paint, but cashed in on 28-of-31 free throws and 9-of-19 3-pointers in the game for their 18th consecutive victory.
Michigan Tech began Elite Eight play with a 69-58 win over the No. 1-ranked Arkansas Tech Golden Suns Tuesday night.
The Huskies' defense held ATU (30-3) to 27 points below its season average of 85. Arkansas Tech entered the game with the nation's highest field goal percentage at 51. The Huskies held them to 34 percent including 4-of-16 from 3-point range.
Doing a load of the defensive work was Lindstrom, who limited ATU's Jenny Vining to 14 points on 5-of-16 shooting. The Golden Suns' other star player Natalia Santos, tallied eight points on 2-of-9 shooting. Staehlin and Lynn Giesler combined for the defensive effort there.
NOTES: Michigan Tech's 31 wins ties a school record set last season. The Huskies have also won a school-record 18 games in a row. ... The Huskies are making their second appearance in the NCAA Final Four in school history (they finished in third place in 1993). ... Tech has defeated the last two No. 1-ranked teams it has faced. Arkansas Tech Tuesday and Northern Kentucky in a Midwest Regional semifinal back on Mar. 14, 2009. ... The Huskies have reached 30 wins for just the third time in school history.
