No. 1 Yellowjackets, No. 2 Eagles pull away in second half to clinch spots in UMAC championship
ST. PAUL, Minn.---Following a thrilling quarterfinal that saw No. 5 Martin Luther College win on a last-second made bucket, the Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC) women's basketball tournament provided more excitement Wednesday with No. 1 University of Wisconsin-Superior and No. 2 University of Northwestern-St. Paul advancing to the championship game Saturday. No. 1 Wisconsin-Superior defeated No. 5 Martin Luther 66-51 in Superior, Wisconsin, while No. 2 Northwestern defeated No. 3 Bethany Lutheran College 66-53 in St. Paul.
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Tournament Site |
Semifinal 1 Recap |
Semifinal 2 Recap |
No. 1 Wisconsin-Superior defeats No. 5 Martin Luther, 66-51; Superior, Wis.
The top-seeded Yellowjackets came in to the tournament having defeated Martin Luther twice in the regular season en route to a perfect 16-0 conference record. However, the Knights weren't going to give up without a fight as they opened the game with a 9-2 run over the first 4:33 of action. The Knights maintained a lead through the first quarter at 14-7.
That lead for the Knights slowly dwindled as the Yellowjackets chipped away until they regained the lead and a 30-27 advantage at the half. They then went on a 17-6 run in the third quarter and never looked back en route to their 23rd win of the season, while the Knights' ended the year with a 13-14 record overall.
The Yellowjackets forced the Knights to commit 24 tournovers and capitalized on those opportunites with 23 points off giveaways. They also scored 33 points off the bench and collected 18 on second chances. Despite shooting just 37 percent from the field, the Yellowjackets managed to score 18 from the charity stripe and held a 39-30 advantage in rebounds.
Sarah Lekson came off the bench to score 14 points for the Yellowjackets on 6-of-11 shooting from the field, while Hailey Kontny added nine points and Justine Larson and Bailee Bartunek each had eight. For the Knights, Grace Schultz poured in a game-high 19 points on 7-of-9 shooting. Erin Schmeling added 11 points and Mariah Schoof contributed eight.
No. 2 Northwestern defeats No. 3 Bethany Lutheran, 66-53; St. Paul, Minn.
The second semifinal showed promise for a close game as the No. 2 Eagles and No. 3 Vikings played a tight game 11 days ago. The first quarter, though, saw the Vikings' shooting go cold and the Eagles took advantage with a 17-7 lead after 10 minutes of play. Down 12 with 8:27 remaining in the half, the Knight offense ignited on a 13-0 run over the next four minutes to tie the game before taking a 29-28 lead into the half.
The second half was a different story as the Eagles outscored the Vikings 24-14 in the third quarter to take a nine-point lead before pulling away for good thanks to a 6-1 run over the opening two minutes of the final quarter. With the loss, the Vikings' season ends at 14-12.
Northwestern used an impressive 43.4 percent shooting performance from the field to silence the Vikings who shot just 29.3 percent. The Eagles also went 7-of-17 from beyond the arc and collected 34 points off the bench. The victorious Eagles also hammered in 28 points in the paint as opposed to just 14 in favor of the Vikings.
The Eagles had four players score in double figures with Tiffany Stubbs collecting 13 off the bench on 4-of-8 shooting. Taryn Tumbleson had 12 points, while Jessica Cole poured in 11 thanks to 3-of-4 shooting from 3-point range. Regan Cooper collected a double-double with 10 points and a game-high 10 rebounds. For the Vikings, Haley Sandin scored a game-high 24 points with four-made 3-pointers. Briana Brandts tallied 10 points and went 6-of-8 from the charity stripe.
Wednesday's semifinals set the stage for a thrilling UMAC playoff championship game set for Saturday. No. 1 Wisconsin-Superior will host No. 2 Northwestern at 7 p.m. in Superior, Wisconsin.
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Playoff Schedule
Quarterfinal Round – Monday, Feb. 22
No. 5 Martin Luther defeats No. 4 Minnesota Morris, 67-66 |
Box Score |
MLC Recap |
UMM Recap |
Semifinal Round – Wednesday, Feb. 24
No. 1 Wisconsin-Superior defeats No. 5 Martin Luther, 66-51 |
Box Score |
UWS Recap |
MLC Recap |
No. 2 Northwestern defeats No. 3 Bethany Lutheran, 66-53 |
Box Score |
UNW Recap |
BLC Recap |
Championship – Saturday, Feb. 27
No. 1 Wisconsin-Superior hosts No. 2 Northwestern, Superior, Wis., 7 p.m.
2015-2016 Tournament Page