Top two seeds win thrilling semifinals to advance to UMAC women's basketball title game Saturday
ST. PAUL, Minn.---The Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC) women’s basketball tournament picked up in intensity during the semifinal round Thursday as No. 1 University of Wisconsin-Superior needed overtime to win at home and No. 2 Bethany Lutheran College pulled away late for a victory setting up a rematch for the conference title game Saturday.
In the opening game of the night, No. 2 Bethany Lutheran used a late third-quarter run to create distance from No. 3 University of Minnesota Morris before a solid fourth quarter that ended in a 72-62 victory for the Vikings.
No. 1 Wisconsin-Superior went down three with 10 seconds left before Katie White hit a 3-pointer with under a second to go to force overtime. The Yellowjackets eventually pulled off the win 71-67.
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Tournament Site |
Semifinal 1 |
Semifinal 2 |
No. 1 Wisconsin-Superior def No. 4 Northwestern, 71-67, OT |
Box Score |
In Thursday's second semifinal to get underway, the champion Yellowjackets looked as if they were going to run away with the game in the first half after leading by as many as 13 points and 32-23 at the half. However, the No. 4 Eagles came to play in the second half as they quickly pulled back in cutting the lead to one in the third quarter.
The Yellowjackets were up seven with just one quarter to play, but the Eagles weren't going away quietly. With 4:43 to play, the Eagles tied the game at 54-54 and took their first lead at 58-57 with 45 seconds to go. Two foul shots then put the Eagles up 60-57 with nine seconds remaining.
After two attempts to inbound the ball resulted in fouls, the Yellowjackets eventually got the ball into the hot hand of White who threw up a 3-pointer that bounced up from the rim before going in with around one second left to force overtime. The Yellowjackets then used their momentum and energy from the crowd to seal the win in the additional five minutes of play.
White led all scorers with 16 points off the bench for the Yellowjackets on 4-of-6 shooting from beyond the arc. Hannah Norlin poured in 15 points and 12 boards for a double-double, while Eva Reinertsen and Emily Carpenter had 12 and 11 points, respectively. Amy Berglund and Brooklyn DeKam each finished with 15 points for the Eagles who end the season 14-13 overall.
No. 2 Bethany Lutheran def No. 3 Minnesota Morris, 72-62 |
Box Score |
The opening two quarters were closely contested between two very competitive teams in No. 2 Bethany Lutheran and No. 3 Minnesota Morris. After the first quarter, the Cougars were up 16-14, but the Vikings outscored the Cougars 18-14 in the second quarter after leading by as many as eight points.
After being up 32-30 at the half, the Vikings came out firing and built their lead to 12 points in just three minutes. The Cougars weren't going down without a fight, though, as they continued to pull within three points before the Vikings closed out the quarter with a 6-0 run over the final 3:14 to go up eight en route to victory.
Abby Olson and Haley Sandin combined for 42 of the Vikings points with Olson logging a game-high 22 points on 50 percent shooting. Sandin tallied 20 points, eight rebounds and five assists. Kenlie Pytleski also added 12 points. The Cougars had four players in double figures with Lexus Eagle Chasing scoring a team-high 18 points. Kendra Raths added an 11-point, 11-rebound double-double effort as the Cougars' season came to a close with a 16-10 record overall.
The No . 2 Vikings will now travel to face No. 1 Wisconsin-Superior for the UMAC playoff championship game at 3 p.m. Saturday in Superior.
Playoff Schedule
Quarterfinal Round – Monday, Feb. 18
No. 4 Northwestern def. No. 5 North Central, 80-64 |
Box Score |
NCU Recap |
UNW Recap |
Semifinal Round – Thursday, Feb. 21
No. 1 Wisconsin-Superior def. No. 4 Northwestern, 71-67 OT |
Box Score |
UNW Recap |
UWS Recap |
No. 2 Bethany Lutheran def. No. 3 Minnesota Morris, 72-62 |
Box Score |
BLC Recap |
UMM Recap |
Championship – Saturday, Feb. 23
No. 2 Bethany Lutheran at No. 1 Wisconsin-Superior, Superior, Wis., 3 p.m. |
Live Stats |
Live Video |
Ticket Information
All UMAC postseason events have the following set admissions prices: Adults, $10; college students and seniors, $5; youth (Age 6-18), $5; age 5 and under, FREE. Any UMAC students, faculty and staff are free with a valid and current institutional ID. No other passes will be accepted.
All tournament information including scores, recaps, team information and more can be found on the UMAC Women’s Basketball page. Keep up with all of the tournament action on Twitter and
Instagram using #UMACchamp.