Yellowjackets blast Blue Devils

Hillary Peterson

Box Score

Yellowjackets 77, Stout 52
Box Score

With just four games remaining in the regular season, the final push for playoff positioning has already begun for the UW-Superior women's basketball team.

And the Yellowjackets, coming off an overtime loss against UW-Stevens Point on Saturday, showed they are ready for the stretch run Wednesday night, breaking open a 10-point halftime lead in the second half before cruising for a 77-52 win over UW-Stout at Mertz Mortorelli Gymnasium.

UW-Superior held the Blue Devils to just 26.8 percent shooting (19-of-71) and outrebounded UW-Stout 58-31 for the game while improving to 17-4 overall and 9-3 in WIAC conference action.

The Blue Devils meanwhile fell to 8-12 overall and 2-9 in league play.

After a free throw by UW-Stout's Brea Boomer gave the Blue Devils a 1-0 lead in the first 24 seconds of the first half, the Yellowjackets scored nine of the next 11 points to take a 9-3 lead on a layup by Sally Linzmeier (Valders, Wis./Valders) with 17:05 left in the opening half.

Kristen Nett (Green Bay, Wis./Bay Port) started the run for the Yellowjackets, hitting a three-pointer with 18:20 remaining and was followed by baskets from Deandra Vavra (Cambridge, Minn./Cambridge-Isanti) and Hillary Peterson (Sturgeon Lake, Minn./Moose Lake).

The Yellowjackets continued to build their lead, upping the margin to 20-9 on a free throw by Peterson with 10:04 left.
UW-Stout made a run to cut into the deficit, trimming UW-Superior's lead to 23-21 on a three-pointer by Kyleigh Herbert with 6:03 showing on the clock.

But Nett connected on another three on the next possession and the Yellowjackets got two quick layups from Linzmeier, a long jumper by Connie Urmanski (Edgar, Wis./Edgar) and an inside score from Carmen Watson (Milwaukee, Wis./James Madison) in the last 5:34 to take a 37-27 lead into the intermission.

The Yellowjackets again surged away early in the second half, outscoring the Blue Devils 19-6 in the opening 4:26 to take a commanding 56-33 lead following another three-pointer by Nett with 15:34 remaining in regulation.

UW-Stout would never get closer than 23 points over the final 14:13 as UW-Superior shot 43.3 percent from the field (13-of-30) in the second half while holding the Blue Devils to just 30.3 percent shooting (10-of-33) after halftime.

Offensively, the Yellowjackets were paced by Nett, who hit 4-of-6 from three-point range on the way to scoring a game-high 16 points. Peterson meanwhile added 15 points on 6-of-8 shooting from the field while Linzmeier finished with 12.
UW-Stout was led by Katelynne Folkers with 11 points. Brea Boomer added 10 points for the Blue Devils.

Milestone Update: Urmanski is now in sole possession of third place on the all-time games played list with 97. She is four games away from breaking the school record, held by Kelsey Thingvold (2007-11). Urmanski is also fifth in points (1,092) and third in assists with 259, just four behind Kati Galovich (2001-05) for second on the all-time list. Kailee McDonald (Cambridge, Minn./Cambridge-Isanti) played her 94th career game, moving her into a tie for seventh on the all-time list. Peterson added three more blocks to her career total, giving her 65, 21 behind Courtney Lane (1997-01) for second on the all-time list.

The Yellowjackets will play their final regular season home Saturday when they host UW-Oshkosh at Mertz Mortorelli Gymnasium. Opening tipoff for Saturday's game with the Titans is scheduled for 3 p.m. The game can be heard locally on 91.3 KM KUWS on tape delay following the broadcast of the men's basketball game, which starts at around 6:30 p.m. Matt Johnson will have the call.

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