Top seeds win close matchups to advance to UMAC women's championship
MANKATO, Minn.---The Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC) women’s basketball saw No. 1 Bethany Lutheran College earn a gritty win over No. 4 University of Minnesota Morris, while No. 2 University of Wisconsin-Superior held off No. 3 University of Northwestern to set up a a tournament title game between the top-two teams for the third-straight season.
Bethany Lutheran held Minnesota Morris to three points in the fourth quarter to earn a 53-43 win over Minnesota Morris, while Wisconsin-Superior was up just three points with 22 seconds to play before taking down Northwestern 90-83.
SEMIFINAL 1: No. 1 Bethany Lutheran def. No. 4 Minnesota Morris, 53-43 | Box Score |
In the two regular season matchups between the No. 1 Vikings and No. 4 Cougars, just four points separated the two teams in both games combined as the Vikings managed to hold on for wins in both. Defense came up big again for the Vikings as they managed to end the Cougars' season in the tournament for the third-straight year.
The scoring started off slow early on as both teams played strong defensively throughout the contest, but the Vikings quickly went on a 7-0 run over a span of just 1:09 to go up seven before taking a 19-9 lead after the first quarter. The Cougars, however, outscored the Vikings 13-9 in the second quarter to make it just a 28-22 game in favor of the Vikings at the half.
Minnesota Morris continued to use that momentum in the third quarter outscoring the Vikings 18-11 to take a 40-39 lead at the final break. The Vikings poured on the defensive pressure and eventually were able to get their offense going taking back the lead for good with 5:43 remaining.
The Vikings held the Cougars to just 27.7 percent shooting and 3-of-14 from beyond the arc. Leading scorer Hanna Geistfeld had a big night offensively going 7-for-11 for 17 points and 13 rebounds for her 17th double-double of the season. Abby Olson picked up 13 points despite sitting most of the first half due to foul trouble.
Mia Wassink led the Cougars with 16 points, while Jay Kwateh came off the bench for 10 points, seven rebounds and two assists. Jaydn Sondrol led the Cougars on the glass with eight boards and had a team-high three assists. The Cougars end their season 17-10 overall.
SEMIFINAL 2: No. 2 Wisconsin-Superior def. No. 3 Northwestern, 90-83 | Box Score |
The No. 2 Yellowjackets and No. 3 Eagles split their regular-season series, but most recently the Yellowjackets earned a dominant win over the Eagles at home. However, they had to fight for victory over the Eagles Wednesday in order to make a fifth-straight UMAC tournament championship appearance.
It was the tale of two halves in the other semifinal game as Wisconsin-Superior built a 16-point lead before seeing the Eagles outscore them in the second half – a near repeat of the semifinal between the two teams last year when the Eagles erased a huge deficit to force overtime. This season, though, the Yellowjackets managed to hold off the Eagles in regulation for the win.
The game started with the Yellowjackets going up 20-10 in the first quarter before taking a 43-27 lead at the break. The Yellowjackets shot an impressive 8-of-12 from the field in the second quarter and were a perfect 4-for-4 beyond the arc. The second half saw the Eagles quickly cut the 'Jackets lead to six at the end of the third quarter.
In the fourth, the Eagles opened with an 8-0 run to go up 63-61 and put the Yellowjackets on their heels. The Eagles would take the lead just once more before the Yellowjackets pulled away for the win.
Mackenzie Kmecik came off the bench for the Yellowjackets scoring a game-high 23 points on 6-of-8 shooting and a 10-for-11 night from the line. Marissa Ruiz, Emily Carpenter and Eva Reinertsen all scored in double digits with Ruiz picking up 16, while Reinertsen earned a 14-point, 12-rebound double-double along with four assists.
The Eagles got 21 points from each Rio Landers and Brooklyn DeKam. Kelsea Lund recorded a double-double scoring 13 points and tallying 11 assists on the night. Miranda Crenshaw scored 10 points, while Hailey Paup tallied a team-high eight rebounds. The Eagles finish the season 16-10 overall.
The No. 1 Vikings will host the No. 2 Yellowjackets in the conference tournament championship game Saturday at 7:30 p.m. The winner will earn the conference's automatic qualifying bid to the NCAA tournament.
TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE
Quarterfinal Round – Monday, Feb. 24
No. 4 Minnesota Morris def. No. 5 North Central, 69-65 |
Box Score |
NCU Recap |
UMM Recap |
Semifinal Round – Wednesday, Feb. 26
No. 1 Bethany Lutheran def. No. 4 Minnesota Morris, 53-43 |
Box Score |
BLC Recap |
UMM Recap |
No. 2 Wisconsin-Superior def. No. 3 Northwestern, 90-83 |
Box Score |
UNW Recap |
UWS Recap |
Championship – Saturday, Feb. 29
No. 2 Wisconsin-Superior AT No. 1 Bethany Lutheran, Mankato, Minn., 7:30 p.m. |
Live Stats |
Live Video |
TICKET INFORMATION
- 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.
Tournament Championship Page