SUPERIOR, Wis.: The UW-Superior women's basketball team opened the inaugural Superior Shootout Holiday Classic with a 72-64 victory over Concordia (Minn.) Saturday at Mertz Mortorelli Gym.
 
The Cobbers pushed Superior to the limit, holding a 16-14 lead at the end of the first quarter, only trailing by a basket, 34-32, at halftime and by one point one minute into the final period. 
 
The Yellowjackets, though, put three players in double figures as Hannah Norlin (Litchfield, Minn./Litchfield) scored a game-high 21 points, Eva Reinertsen (Duluth, Minn./Homeschooled) had 14 and Kaly Kostrova (Rhinelander, Wis./Rhinelander) 10 to lead their team past a game Concordia squad. With the win, the 'Jackets improve to 10-1 on the season and are set to face arguably their toughest test of the year to date, an undefeated UW-Stout team Sunday. The Blue Devils improved to 10-0 with a 78-66 win over St. Scholastica in the first game of the Holiday Classic Saturday.
 
Up 54-50 entering the fourth quarter, UWS saw the Cobbers' Kirstin Simmons complete a three-point play with 8:58 remaining to close within one. Norlin responded with one of her own after grabbing an offensive rebound on the next possession to restore the 'Jackets four-point edge at 57-53.
 
The Yellowjackets extended their advantage to seven points three times in the final quarter and led by as many as eight when Katie White (Pequot Lakes, Minn./Pequot Lakes) hit one from the foul line with 5:19 left for a 67-59 lead. Concordia cut the lead to four with 1:20 to go on a pair of free throws, before Superior salted the win away, going 4-for-6 at the free-throw line. 
 
The Cobbers scored the game's first five points and had a trio of five-point leads in the first quarter. With the 'Jackets trailing 9-4 with less than four-and-a-half minutes left in the period a Kostrova layup and an Emily Carpenter (St. Peter, Minn./St. Peter) 3-pointer tied the game for the first time. Kostrova extended the run with another trey, assisted by Taylor Kane (Grand Rapids, Minn./Grand Rapids), before Concordia rattled off seven straight for a 16-12 lead with a minute left in the period.
 
Elizabeth Birkemeyer pushed the Cobblers advantage to five, 21-16, a minute into the second quarter. The 'Jackets came roaring back, claiming a 31-24 lead, on a run capped by a Morgan Anderson (Savage, Minn./Prior Lake) basket off a feed from Kostrova with 2:26 left in the half. 
 
UWS earned its largest lead of the game in the third quarter, stretching the advantage to 54-42 with 2:17 left when Kane hit three free throws, but Concordia tallied the next seven to set the stage for a tight final 10 minutes.
 
Katie White (Pequot Lakes, Minn./Pequot Lakes), Carpenter and Kane contributed nine, eight and six points, respectively, and Simmons paced the Cobbers (3-7) with 16 points.
 
UWS faces Stout at 3 p.m., on Sunday, while Concordia and St. Scholastica clash in the first game of the day.