The Upper Midwest Athletic Conference's Game of the Week stood up to the weight of its billing as the top two teams in the UMAC Preseason Poll battled in the conference opener on Friday night with the University of Wisconsin Superior downing the University of Northwestern 66-59 in St. Paul, Minnesota.

After the home team laid-in the first shot of the game, UW-Superior (2-3, 1-0 UMAC) scored the next seven points and 11 of the next 13 to open up an early 11-4 lead. Northwestern (0-3, 0-1 UMAC) came rolling back, out-scoring the Yellowjackets 8-5 in the rest of the opening frame, but UWS still held a 16-12 lead after the first quarter. The Eagles regained the lead at 22-20, stretching out the run to 18-9 in favor of the home team, but the Yellowjackets ran off 11 straight points to end the half and take a 31-22 lead to the locker room.

After trading points throughout much of the third quarter, UW-Superior built on its lead by scoring the final five points of the frame, knocking back a pair of shots by Northwestern in the closing seconds of the period to extend the lead out to 14 at 53-39. The Eagles opened a run of their own to start the fourth quarter, scoring the first six points to cut into the Yellowjacket lead. UW-Superior would do enough down the stretch, despite finishing 10-of-17 from the free throw line, to hold on for the victory.

Junior guard Hailey Kontny (Superior, Wis./Superior H.S.) had a game-high 17 points for the Yellowjackets. Junior forward Justine Larson (Stanchfield, Minn./Cambridge-Isanti H.S.) (11) and senior forward Hannah Norlin (Litchfield, Minn./Litchfield H.S.) (14) also cracked double digits for UW-Superior. Junior forward Bailee Bartunek (Audobon, Minn./Lake Park-Audobon H.S.) had a game-high 14 rebounds to go with nine points. Amy Berglund had 14 points and 10 boards for Northwestern. The Yellowjackets shot 37.1 percent on the night (26-of-70) while Northwestern was 22-of-56 (39.5). Each team had 15 turnovers, but UWS had a 51-33 advantage in rebounding.

UP NEXT
UW-Superior continues UMAC play on the road Saturday as the Yellowjackets travel to Minneapolis to take on North Central University. Opening tip is set for 2:00 p.m. preceding the men's contest.