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Wisconsin-Superior
Yellowjackets
Hailey Hart scores 1000
Lynne Deadrick

Women's Basketball

Late shot doesn't go, Falcons edge Yellowjackets

Hailey Hart drives the basket and scores the 1,000th point of her career as a Yellowjacket.
Box Score

River Falls 64, Yellowjackets 62
Box Score

The program "ABC's Wide World of Sports" used to use the phrase "the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat" during its opening sequence.  The Yellowjacket women's basketball team knows a little something about those feelings, having experienced both in Wednesday night's game, a tough 64-62 defeat at the hands of UW-River Falls at Mertz Mortorelli Gym.

Junior Connie Urmanski (Edgar, Wis./Edgar), who had the hot hand all night long, took control of the ball with the clock winding down,
Connie Urmanski
but her shot at the buzzer which would have sent the game to overtime went off the rim and bounced out, giving the Falcons the win and the Yellowjackets the "agony."  Urmanski had her best scoring game of the season, putting up 26 points.  She's the only Yellowjacket to eclipse 20 points in a game this season, having done it twice.

Despite the loss, the Yellowjackets still find themselves in the hunt for a spot in the WIAC playoffs, where they currently tied for sixth place with UW-Platteville.  The Yellowjackets haven't qualified for the WIAC post-season since 2003-04.

The game started off on a celebratory note, or the "thrill" if you will, as senior Hailey Hart (Osseo, Wis./Osseo-Fairchild) used her patented drive to the basket and hit the layup, getting the Yellowjackets on the board (they trailed 3-2 at the time) and vaulting her into select company.  The two points gave her 1,000 for her career and she became just the seventh Yellowjacket to hit that mark.  She joins Sandy Eilertsen, Tammy Myer, Brenda Hedrick, Sherri Oldevak, Mandy Giffen and Stephanie Janigo.

With the milestone out of the way the teams settled into the play.  Urmanski would complete a three-point play to give the Yellowjackets their first lead of the game at 5-3.  The back-and-forth battle would continue until the Falcons went on a 11-3 run to pull out to a 22-13 lead with just over five minutes remaining in the first half. 

The Yellowjackets would come storming back, and consecutive three-point plays by Hart (jumper and a free throw) and Carly Chell (Apple Valley, Minn./Apple Valley) (three-pointer) tied the game at 22-22.  A minute later the Falcons again found themselves up by five, but another three from Urmanski at the buzzer tied the game at 29-29 as the teams went to the locker room.

Four minutes into the second half Tiffany Gregorich hit a three-pointer and the Falcons again had a five-point lead at 36-31.  They would build the lead up to as many as ten points, leading 53-43 with 8:47 to play, but the Yellowjackets continued to show their resilience and again chipped the Falcon lead down.  An 8-4 run over the next four minutes closed the gap to 57-54. 

The Falcons again built the lead back up.  After a pair of free throws by Brittany Gregorich, they found themselves with an eight-point advantage, leading 64-56.  An Urmanski three made it 64-59 with 1:42 to play.  The next time down the floor, Urmanski hit three again, and suddenly the deficit was down to just two at 64-62 with 44 seconds to play. 

After Brittany Gregorich missed a layup with 16 seconds left, the Yellowjackets had the chance to take the last shot and either tie or win the game.  As the seconds clicked off, the Yellowjackets got the look they wanted, but the final shot wouldn't drop and they were sent down to defeat.

In addition to Urmanski's big night, Hart finished with 13 points.  Kailee McDonald (Cambridge, Minn./Cambridge-Isanti) had a team-high five rebounds and also chipped in five assists.  Deandra Vavra (Cambridge, Minn./Cambridge-Isanti) led the Yellowjackets with six assists. 

All five starters scored in double figures for River Falls, paced by Alise Holst who had 15, followed by Nikki Guhr with 12 points. 

Milestone Update: After eclipsing the 1,000-point mark, Hart jumped into sixth place on the all-time scoring chart.  She currently has 1,011 points in her career and is 66 behind Mandy Giffen (1994-99) for fifth place.  Hart is also sixth on the all-time rebound chart with 604.  Bri Davis (Hermantown, Minn./Hermantown) jumped into the top ten in all-time games played with 91.  Her next game will tie her for eighth all-time.  She jumped into 12th on the all-time scoring chart and currently has 884 points.  She is 49 points out of 11th place.  Urmanski's big day gives her 827 points in her career, seven shy of jumping into 14th all-time past Geraldine Papenfuss 1980-84).  She also tied Katie Moench (2004-07) for eighth on the all-time assist list with 183.  Her next assist will tie her with Melanie Miller (1976-79) for seventh all-time.

The Yellowjackets (10-12, 4-10 WIAC) will be at home on Saturday (Feb. 11) when they play host to UW-Whitewater at 1:00 p.m.  The game can be viewed live via the iFan Sports Network at www.ifan.tv.
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