No. 2 Bethany Lutheran upsets No. 1 Wisconsin-Superior for first-ever UMAC tournament title
SUPERIOR, Wis.---After the same squad has won the Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC) women’s basketball tournament for the last three years, there is finally a new team that will represent the conference in the NCAA Championship as No. 2 Bethany Lutheran College collected its first-ever tourney title with an upset of No. 1 University of Wisconsin-Superior Saturday afternoon.
The Vikings used a late-game comeback and a last second free throw to take down the three-time champion Yellowjackets 55-54 to give the Vikings a tournament championship and the UMAC automatic-qualifying bid to the NCAA tournament for the first time in women's basketball.
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Tournament Site |
Box Score |
Down nine points at the start of the fourth quarter, the Vikings came out strong in the final minutes of the game taking back the lead with 3:57 left to go on a layup from Hanna Geistfeld who led both teams in scoring in the championship game with 18. She then iced the win with a game-winning free throw with just over a second left in the game.
The Vikings started off the game hot getting out to an early 8-2 lead and then going up by six at the end of the first quarter. However, the Yellowjackets responded to start the second quarter with a 8-0 run to take their first lead of the game. The score was then tied twice more before the Vikings went up 25-23 at the half.
To start the final 20 minutes, Wisconsin-Superior came out strong quickly tying the game and slowly building their lead back up to as many as 12 points with 2:38 to go in the third quarter. The Vikings managed to cut the lead to 46-39 before coming alive over the final 10 minutes en route to the win.
Geistfeld topped the scoring on 6-of-9 shooting from the field and 7-of-11 from the line, while Abby Olson scored 16 points and collected a team-high seven rebounds. Olson was named the tournament MVP after she posted 22 points in the Vikings' semifinal win for a tournament total 38 points and 13 rebounds.
The Yellowjackets were led by Hannah Norlin who collected another double-double with a team-high 14 points and game-high 10 rebounds. Eva Reinertsen added 13 points on 50 percent shooting and Ellie Leadstrom finished with 10. The Yellowjackets' spectacular season ended with a 24-3 overall record and dropped their first-ever game at home to a UMAC team since joining the league in 2015-16.
The Vikings will represent the UMAC in the NCAA postseason tournament next week. The Vikings will learn their postseason fate Monday at 1:30 p.m. during the Division III Women's Basketball Selection Show on
ncaa.com.
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 def. No. 1 Wisconsin-Superior, 55-54 |
Box Score |
BLC Recap |
UWS Recap |
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.