MORRIS, Minn.: The UW-Superior women's basketball team's 49-game regular-season Upper Midwest Athletic Conference winning streak was in jeopardy at Minnesota Morris's Jim Gremmels Court Saturday.
 
The Yellowjackets, who have been rarely challenged since joining the conference for the 2015-16 season, had difficulty dispatching the pesky Cougars, who held leads at the end of the first quarter and at halftime. In the end, though, the 'Jackets took care of business for a 59-52 road victory to push their unbeaten streak to 50 league games and 56 including conference tournament action.
 
Emily Carpenter (St. Peter, Minn./St. Peter), Hannah Norlin (Litchfield, Minn./Litchfield) and Eva Reinertsen (Duluth, Minn./Homeschooled) scored 13 points apiece and Norlin grabbed 10 rebounds for her second consecutive and fourth double-double of the season overall. UWS recovered from a 34-percent shooting first half to knock down half of its 26 attempts from the floor in the final 20 minutes. 
 
Morris erased a seven-point first-quarter lead for the 'Jackets. After Norlin hit a jump shot with 4:02 remaining in the opening period for a 12-5 lead, the Cougars scored nine straight points, claiming a 14-12 edge going into the second quarter. Kendra Raths converted a layup with a minute left in the frame for the lead. She had four points in the spurt while the other five came from Lexus Eagle Chasing.
 
Morris continued to hold the lead for much of the second quarter until Marissa Ruiz (Inver Grove Heights, Minn./Simley) canned a 3-pointer for a 19-all tie, just 3:14 before the break. UMM wasn't fazed as, following another Ruiz triple, an Abby Kempen layup and two Eagle Chasing free throws extended the lead to 25-22 with 25 seconds left in the half. 
 
Katie White (Pequot Lakes, Minn./Pequot Lakes) knocked in a pair from the line to shave the UWS deficit to one at 25-24 heading into the locker room.
 
Ellie Leadstrom (Superior, Wis./Superior) stripped Elli Stevenson of the ball on the Cougars' first possession of the second half and Reinertsen found Leadstrom at the other end for a layup, giving the Yellowjackets a lead they wouldn't relinquish the rest of the day. Norlin, Reinertsen and Carpenter combined for the next seven points as the 'Jackets advantage grew to 33-25 with 4:22 remaining in the third quarter. 
 
UWS led, 42-36, heading into the final period. Raths got the Cougars to within 44-40 at the 7:30 mark of the frame with a basket, but no closer.
 
Stevenson, Raths and Eagle Chasing had 13, 12 and 10 points, respectively, to pace Morris (4-5, 1-1 UMAC).
 
Superior (7-1, 2-0) returns home Wednesday at 5:30 p.m., to host Northland.