Yellowjackets report: UWS women's hoops rallies to top Bethany
Jan. 19—SUPERIOR — The Wisconsin-Superior women's basketball team answered the bell at the right time, outscoring Bethany Lutheran 27-14 for a come-from-behind 74-70 victory in Upper Midwest Athletic Conference play at Mertz Mortorelli Gym on Friday, Jan. 19.
UWS found itself down 11 on the first possession of the fourth quarter but went on a 9-2 run to get back into the game, then scored seven straight points to briefly take their first lead of the period on Erika Mattson's layup with 4:18 to play.
Buckets were hard to come by down the stretch, as there were only two field-goal makes in the last three minutes of play, and they were both by UWS, which closed it out at the free-throw line.
Mattson had 19 points on 8-of-14 shooting, while MyKenzie Luccia scored 15 and Elise Besonen 12.
UWS was 29-for-62 (47%) from the floor and held a 37-26 rebounding advantage. The Yellowjackets (9-8, 5-1 UMAC) host Martin Luther on Saturday afternoon, Jan. 20.
Wisconsin-Superior made only 5-of-35 shots from the field in the first half and missed all 10 3-point attempts in a 69-47 loss to Bethany Lutheran at Mertz Mortorelli Gym.
The Yellowjackets scored only 13 first-half points and found themselves trailing by 19 at the break against a Vikings team that has yet to lose in league play this season. Though UWS improved to score 34 points in the second half on 12-of-39 (31.6%) from the floor, they were behind 20 or more for most of the last 20 minutes.
No UWS player scored more than Andrew Kunelius' seven points and seven rebounds.
For Bethany, Superior natives Xavier Patterson and Mason Ackley started and scored 11 and eight points, respectively. The Vikings got a team-high 15 from Hunter Nielsen.
UWS (10-6, 3-3 UMAC) will host Martin Luther on Saturday, Jan. 20.
Wisconsin-Superior couldn't get any of their 23 shots on goal in, resulting in a 2-0 Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference defeat to Wisconsin-Eau Claire at Wessman Arena on Friday, Jan. 19.
Quinn Green opened the scoring for the Blugolds, putting them up 1-0 just 12 seconds into the second period. Connor Szmul added a second goal with three minutes remaining in the fame, and that turned out to be all the scoring despite the Yellowjackets having a 21-15 shot advantage from the second period on.
Max Gutjahr got the shutout for UWEC, while Kobe Grant stopped 22 shots for UWS (10-8, 5-3 WIAC).
The teams meet again in Superior on Saturday, Jan. 20.
