Yellowjackets report: UWS women keep Northwestern at bay
Feb. 3—SUPERIOR — Wisconsin-Superior's fourth-quarter surge helped them keep Northwestern and all the other teams pursuing them in the Upper Midwest Athletic Conference women's basketball standings at arm's length in a 58-52 win on Saturday, Feb. 3 at Mertz Mortorelli Gym.
The Yellowjackets entered the final frame down 42-40 and pushed their lead to six early, but an 8-0 run put the hosts out front with 3:29 to play. They finished the job at the free-throw line, going 8-for-10 down the stretch to close it out, while holding the Eagles to 2-for-11 shooting with two turnovers over the game's last seven minutes.
Katie Dobson led UWS with 18 points on 7-for-12 shooting with three 3-pointers. Elise Besonen added 11 for UWS, which was 20-of-60 (33%) from the floor.
The Yellowjackets (12-8, 8-1 UMAC) hold a half-game lead in the conference ahead of a Tuesday make-up game at winless Northland, followed by a Friday game at leading contender Minnesota Morris.
Offense was tough to come by for Wisconsin-Superior on Saturday, Feb. 3, which lost 55-45 to Northwestern on its home floor at Mertz Mortorelli Gym in Superior on a day in which the Yellowjackets missed more than two-thirds of their shots.
Reserve Reid Johnson was the only UWS player to score in double figures, recording 14 points. The Yellowjackets were 17-for-56 from the field (30%) and made only 6 of 31 (19%) from outside the 3-point arc.
The teams went to halftime tied at 22, but Northwestern improved coming out of the break, building a 12-point advantage over the first 10 minutes. UWS got no closer than six the rest of the way.
UWS (14-7, 6-4 UMAC) will return to the floor at Minnesota Morris on Friday, Feb. 9.
Wisconsin-Stout grinded out a split in its Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference men's hockey series at Wessman Arena, using a single goal to get past Wisconsin-Superior 1-0 at Wessman Arena on Saturday, Feb. 3.
The only goal in the Yellowjackets' regular-season home finale came 3:31 into the second period from the Blue Devils' Peyton Hart.
UW-Superior had a 32-19 shot advantage but couldn't get any of them past UW-Stout goalie Tyler Masternak, who made 15 saves in the third period.
Jack Boschert stopped 18 shots for the Yellowjackets (11-11-1, 6-6-1 WIAC). The Yellowjackets go into the final weekend of the regular season (next weekend at league-leading Wisconsin-Stevens Point) needing two points of a possible six to clinch a home-ice series in the first round of the WIAC tournament.
Wisconsin-Superior had two weeks to prepare for a third consecutive meeting with the undefeated and unanimous No. 1 team in the country, Wisconsin-River Falls, but it didn't matter to the Falcons, who rolled to a 5-0 victory in River Falls, Wisconsin on Saturday, Feb. 3.
UWRF scored twice in the first 3:03 to take control, then scored with 0.4 seconds left in the first period and twice in the next to cement it, with Alex Hantge notching a two-goal game.
Goaltender Rose Beeman made 48 saves for the Yellowjackets, who were outshot 53-9.
UWS (4-16-1, 1-5-1 WIAC) plays its last four regular-season games at home starting with a Friday night, Feb. 9 contest vs. Wisconsin-Stevens Point.
