As Emporia State coach Brandon Schneider has watched film of Michigan Tech leading up to Tuesday’s Elite Eight game, he’s come away with the impression that Michigan Tech’s players all look like they’ve been playing together for a long time.
Schneider’s impressions are warranted, because there is reason for their familiarity. The third-ranked Huskies have five seniors in their starting lineup, and they’ve relied heavily on those seniors for several years now. They even made last season’s Elite Eight without any seniors and the same starting lineup.
“They’re just so dang smart,” Schneider said. “They lead the country in assist-to-turnover ratio, and they just look like a bunch of kids that have played together for a long time and have a great deal of experience.”
The familiarity and the talent in the starting lineup has made Michigan Tech an extremely efficient offensive team, and in turn, a difficult team to defend.
The Huskies shoot 47.7 percent from the field, 38.7 percent from beyond the arc, 83 percent from the free throw line and only turn the ball over 11.2 times per game. No. 15 Emporia State’s shooting numbers, in comparison, are 43 percent, 37.7 percent, 71.9 percent and ESU commits 18.2 turnovers per game.
Yet the Lady Hornets average more points —79 to 75.6 — and that’s mostly because of they play at a faster tempo and create more turnovers with their defense.
Both teams outscore opponents by similar numbers — Michigan Tech by 18.5, ESU by 17.2 — but Michigan Tech does so in fewer possessions because of its great shooting.
“Their shooting numbers in general are really impressive, from their field goal percentage to their 3-point percentage to shooting 83 percent from the free throw line as a team,” Schneider said. “They’re really skilled, really smart and play extremely well together.”
Defensively, the Huskies have similar numbers to the Lady Hornets; however, they force fewer turnovers because of their philosophy. Schneider compared them to Northeastern State, the team ESU beat in the Regional championship, as both teams main objective is to keep the ball in front of them and force guarded shots.
That worked out well in the South Central Regional championship, as the Lady Hornets blew out Northeastern State by shooting 47.3 percent and getting everyone involved with four players scoring in double figures.
Offensively, Michigan Tech has a very balanced team, unlike any team ESU has faced all season. Schneider said it was hard to compare the Huskies offensively to anyone in the MIAA, but they’ve used certain players off other teams to compare each individual player to.
The Huskies are led by their two senior post players, Katie Wysocky and Danae Danen. Wysocky, a power forward, leads the team in scoring at 17.8 points per game and rebounding at 11.3 per game. She can play inside and out — she’s made 31 3-pointers — and she is able to get to the free throw line almost 4.5 times per game, and she shoots 85.7 percent at the line.
“She can shoot the three and is very good at attacking the basket off the bounce and can post up,” Schneider said. “She’s really skilled. You’re going to hear me say that about a lot of their guys, but she’s definitely their most versatile player and one that they can try to put in a lot of situations, just depending on how you choose to guard them.”
While Wysocky is the star, Danen, who plays center, is plenty capable and played like the star during the Midwest Regional tournament. She was the MVP of the Regional and scored 30 points and had 12 rebounds in the 84-68 championship game win over Drury.
A matchup to watch could be Danen against ESU center Alli Volkens, who also had a big Regional tournament.
“(Danen) is a little bit more of a finesse post player, while Alli is a little bit more of a power player,” Schneider said. “Danen can step away from the basket and make the short-corner shot, make the high-post shot. She’s really dangerous facing up, and she will play with her back to the basket, but her build is not as conducive to playing the power game as much as stepping away from the basket.”
The Huskies’ three perimeter players help give their posts room to operate with their ability to shoot the three. Both Katie Zimmerman and Sarah Stream average better than 10 points per game. Zimmerman is the 3-point specialist. She’s made 91 threes — eight more than ESU’s best Cassondra Boston — and she shoots 46.9 percent from beyond the arc.
The Huskies get all their scorers involved by running a lot of sets in the halfcourt.
“They run more sets than we could ever choose to even try to cover,” Schneider said. “It’s just more of trying to pick out what they do most of the time.”
The Lady Hornets, like Michigan Tech, also have a lot of experience with four seniors and three in the starting lineup. None have played in an Elite Eight — Lacy Corker redshirted her freshman year in 2006 the last time ESU made it — but Schneider believes the experience of playing in the Regional every year and playing the MIAA tournament in Kansas City, Mo., should have his team ready for the big-time tournament experience that will accompany the Elite Eight in St. Joseph, Mo, but Michigan Tech might have a slight advantage there.
Last year, Michigan Tech lost in the Elite Eight 61-53 to the eventual National Champion, Minnesota State. The Huskies (31-2) have been expected to get back, and they spent part of the season at No. 1. Coach John Barnes made sure to point out the experience doesn’t matter if his team doesn’t play well, but it definitely helps make sure they are ready for the situation.
“My job is made a lot easier by them knowing what to do without me having to tell them all the time,” Barnes said. “They make smart decisions, and it’s just nice to have that kind of experience out there. Last year, we didn’t have any seniors and it showed in the game. Hopefully, we can use those seniors in positive ways to help us throughout the game.”