HOUGHTON - Pressure has been on the Michigan Tech women's basketball team all season, and that was especially true Tuesday night as they welcomed a record crowd of 3,131 people to watch them take on Drury University in the NCAA Midwest Regional championship game.
Just like they've done all season, the Huskies put on a show that will be remembered for years as they defeated the Panthers 84-68 to earn a spot in the Elite Eight in St. Joseph's, Mo. next week.
"All year I would go into a game saying 'Wow this is an important game, we have to win this game,'" Tech coach John Barnes said. "It was like every weekend, every game was like that."
The Huskies battled for positioning in the national and regional polls, and that game-in and game-out pressure shined through Tuesday.
"It was tough fighting through all that pressure, but that's what helps us this time of the year, every game has been a must-win game all year," Barnes said. "That's why the players stay calm and don't let the runs get on their nerves too much, they were able to hang in, keep plugging away, executing and were able to win the game at the end."
The Panthers started the game hot, but Tech matched them blow-for-blow, and as the half neared an end the Huskies' shooting kept up, while the Panthers' shooting stuttered.
Tech took its first lead of the game with 8:33 remaining in the half on a Katie Zimmerman triple. After a Melanie Oliver lay-up cut the lead to 20-19, the Panthers missed four of their next five shots.
The Huskies began pulling away, upping the lead to six on another Zimmerman triple, then 10 on a jump shot by Danae Danen.
Danen scored 16 points in the first half, including eight in the final 5:32 as the Black and Gold went into half up 42-32.
"She's kind of a difficult matchup because she's so long," Drury coach Steve Harold said. "We make adjustments all the time, but a kid goes out and makes 13 out of 17, that's got to be a career game."
And it was, Danae continued her hot shooting into the second half, and finished with a career-high 30 points, while earning Most Outstanding Player honors for her efforts on the weekend.
"The biggest thing is I'm just happy for her, she's worked just like the rest of them on getting her game to the best it possibly can be," Barnes said.
The Huskies looked like they were going to roll to victory as Danen hit a lay-up to open the second half, but Drury hit back, and this time hard.
The Panthers' big three of Melanie Oliver, Katie Pritchard and Lindsay Ballweg combined for nine points as Drury cut the lead from 12 to three.
The Huskies quickly responded with a 12-2 run of their own to take a 57-43 lead.
Drury regained its stride and trimmed the lead with a 16-6 run that spanned three minutes.
The Huskies, who were up 63-59 with 8:23 remaining, finally found the ticket to victory as Danen pushed the lead to a half-dozen with a lay-up. Then the home squad switched to a zone defense.
The Panthers couldn't handle the zone, missing six straight shots and adding only nine points in the final eight minutes.
"When we made our second-half runs, we committed to our inside high-low game, and we were getting lay-up after layup, easy shots in the lane, we were scoring," Harold said. "We did that and got ourselves back in, but obviously they answered, they went to a zone.
"If they would have stayed with man, I think we would have pushed this thing right to the bitter end."
The switch to zone was also accompanied by a restless crowd that was on its feet down the stretch cheering for the victory.
"If the crowd did play a role, it was in our communication," Harold said of his team not being able to adapt to the scheme change.
For the Huskies, who have six seniors that played in their final home game, the crowd was everything they wanted.
"Compared to Sunday, I think we did a lot better job countering their runs," sixth-year senior Sarah Stream said. "It helps when we have 3,100 people there, when you make a good play they're cheering for you."
Stream said the crowds have grown every year since she joined the Huskies, coming from Westwood (Ishpeming) High School.
"It's an unbelievable feeling, after six years to be able to play my last game at the SDC in front of 3,100 people, it doesn't get any better than that," Stream said. "We can't thank our fans enough, we have the best fans in the country, and it's just been a blast.
"I feel like I'm one of the luckiest people in the world."
Stream joined Katie Wysocky, Danen and Drury's Ballweg and Pritchard on the All-Tournament Team.
Wysocky scored 19 points for Tech and Zimmerman added 18 while shooting 5-for-7 from three-point range.
Pritchard and Ballweg had 16 each for the Panthers, while Oliver and Caitlin Shouse added 12.
The Huskies will play Emporia (Kan.) State (21-5) next Tuesday in the fourth of four national quarterfinals, at 9:30 p.m. (EDT). The Lady Hornets won the South Central regional convincingly 76-45 Monday.
