MENOMONIE, Wis. – The UW-Superior women's basketball team landed four players in double figures and outscored UW-Stout by six points in the second half, but the Blue Devils held on for a 72-68 victory in the season opener for both teams at Johnson Fieldhouse Friday.
 
Senior Eva Reinertsen (Duluth, Minn./Homeschooled) paced the Yellowjackets with 17 points on 8-for-17 shooting while Emily Carpenter (St. Peter, Minn./St. Peter) and Kaly Kostrova (Rhinelander, Wis./Rhinelander) scored 12 apiece. Ellie Leadstrom (Superior, Wis./Superior Senior) added 10 points and four steals.
 
Trailing, 39-29, at halftime, the 'Jackets came out of the break limiting Stout to just 14 points in the third quarter to climb back into the game. Kostrova gave UWS their first lead of the night 14 seconds into the fourth quarter at 54-53 on a jumper off of a steal by Leadstrom.
 
Carpenter then hit a 3-pointer with 8:55 to play to extend the lead to 57-53. Stout tied the game at 59-59 on a pair of Emily Jacques free throws with 4:33 remaining. Carpenter responded with a jumper on the next possession to retake the lead, but the Blue Devils rattled off four straight points to claim the lead for good on a Lizzy Olsem jumper and two Shannan Watkins free throws.
 
UWS got back to within one on two more occasions on a Kaija Davies (Aitkin, Minn./Aitkin) layup at the 2:13 mark and again on a layup by Marissa Ruiz (Inver Grove Heights, Minn./Simley) layup with 28 seconds to play, but Stout salted the game away, hitting on 5-of-6 from the line to ensure the win.
 
Pashia Scott (Fridley, Minn./Columbia Heights) ripped down a game-high nine rebounds for the 'Jackets, who were outrebounded, 43-35, for the game. UWS had 12 steals on the night and shot 40.3 percent from the field.
 
UWS opens its home schedule Monday at 7 p.m., against Augsburg.