SUPERIOR, Wis. – The University of Wisconsin-Superior Yellowjackets won the 2024-25 UMAC Women’s Basketball Tournament Championship on Saturday night with a 53-47 victory over the University of Northwestern Eagles. The tournament title is the fourth in the Yellowjackets' program history and their first since 2017-18.
Heading into the championship game, the Yellowjackets and Eagles had split their regular season games against each other. UW-Superior won the first meeting 69-63 on January 22 and Northwestern took the second 76-69 (OT) on February 5. In both of those games, the road team had been the victor.
On Saturday, the Yellowjackets rallied from a six-point deficit at halftime to outscore the Eagles 33-21 in the second half, highlighted by a 20-point fourth quarter.
UW-Superior entered that final quarter trailing by one point, down 34-33. The Eagles built their lead up as high as six points up 43-37 with just 5:51 remaining, but Elise Besonen scored seven-consecutive points for the Yellowjackets to retake the lead 44-43 for UWS with 2:49 left on the clock.
The Eagles retook the lead 45-44 on their next possession, but Katie Dobson responded with a three-pointer to give UW-Superior a two-point lead up 47-45 with only 1:50 remaining. The Yellowjackets would hold the Eagles to just two points the rest of the way while scoring on their free throw opportunities secure the 53-47 win and clinch the tournament title.
Besonen was named the UMAC Tournament MVP. The senior led UW-Superior in the championship game with 28 points on 11-for-19 shooting from the field to go along with seven rebounds. In the semifinal victory over the Martin Luther College Knights, Besonen had 19 points and six assists while shooting 5-for-7 from three-point range.
With the UMAC Tournament victory, UW-Superior has earned the UMAC’s automatic bid and will advance to compete in the NCAA DIII Women’s Basketball Tournament.
The UMAC is an NCAA Division III member comprised of eight full-time member schools from Minnesota and Wisconsin: Bethany Lutheran College, Crown College, Martin Luther College, North Central University, Northland College, University of Minnesota Morris, University of Northwestern, and University of Wisconsin-Superior.