Justin St. Ours | Daily Press Escanaba’s Nicole Kamin (right) drives around Houghton’s Cassie Ryynanen (left) Friday at Escanaba.

ESCANABA — Style points aren’t awarded for basketball victories.

The Escanaba girls, however, were happy to get a win anyway Friday night as they outlasted the Houghton Gremlins 53-48 in a non-conference match-up.

“We struggled, but it’s still a good win,” said Esky coach Mike Beveridge. “We’ve been off for two weeks. We couldn’t practice because of the weather. We knew this would be a get the cobwebs out type thing.”

The score was tied at 38 after the third quarter. The Eskymos then scored the first six points of the fourth, gaining a 44-38 lead on a layup by senior guard Katie Wilson with five minutes, 58 seconds remaining.

Houghton continued to hang around, trimming its deficit to 44-42 on an 18-foot set shot by sophomore guard Maryellen Trewhella midway through the fourth.

Esky, which hadn’t played since its 43-26 victory at Bark River-Harris Jan. 18, answered with a 5-0 run and gained a 49-42 cushion on a free throw by sophomore guard Nicole Kamin at 1:28. Included in that run was an 18-foot set shot by classmate Paige Chaillier for a six-point lead 12 seconds earlier.

“That was huge because it slowed Houghton down a little,” said Beveridge. “I’m very pleased with the effort by the girls. Defensively, I thought we played well. Some of the girls were sick, but I felt the girls off the bench did a nice job picking up the pace.”

Houghton didn’t get closer than five points through the remainder of the contest.

“Overall, I thought we played hard and competed well,” said Houghton coach Julie Filpus. “As a coach you’re always happy to see that. More than anything our team lacks experience. We just have to keep plugging away. We worked on our early help defense in practice Thursday and I think it took away some of their layups.”

The Gremlins led 21-14 following a pair of free throws by Trewhella with 1:22 left in the second stanza.

Esky (7-5) finished the second with an 8-2 run to climb within 23-22 at halftime.

“Maryellen and Cassie (Ryynanen) got in foul trouble in the second quarter and it presented some challenges on defense for us,” said Filpus. “Not only are they our leaders on defense, they’re also our leaders on offense. We have fewer numbers this year, but we still want to push the ball.”

It was nip and tuck through the third frame before Esky gained the upper hand in the fourth.

“I thought the little spurt at the end of the second quarter gave us a little momentum.” said Beveridge. “The one early in the fourth quarter was also huge. We had to keep pushing it and I thought Lexi (Chaillier) and Nicole did a nice job for us.”

Kamin sank 9-of-14 free throws and led the Eskymos with 23 points. Lexi Chaillier scored 12, including a layup to start the fourth quarter.

“Nicole is very athletic and quick and she’s tough off the dribble,” said Filpus. “Getting to the line 14 times shows she’s aggressive.”

Houghton (1-11), with just eight available players, was led by Ryynanen and Trewhella with 16 points apiece.

Junior guard Daityn Markham added 10.

Esky, which also won the jayvee game 44-23, hosts Kingsford Tuesday. Houghton hosts fourth-ranked Marquette Monday.

Houghton 11 12 15 10 — 48

Escanaba 8 14 16 15 — 53

Houghton — Markham 10, Bugni 3, Ryynanen 16, Trewhella 16, Connors 3. FT: 5-8; F: 24; Fouled out: Connors; 3-point field goals: Trewhella 2, Connors.

Escanaba — Monkevich 2, Kamin 23, P. Chaillier 4, L. Chaillier 12, Wilson 4, Weber 4, Ray 4. FT: 13-23; F: 12; Fouled out: L. Chaillier.