SUPERIOR, Wis. – Tied through three quarters in its opening game of the Superior Shootout Holiday Classic Sunday, the UW-Superior women's basketball team outscored Finlandia, 20-11, in the final 10 minutes to pull out a 64-55 victory at Mertz Mortorelli Gym.
The Yellowjackets received double-figure scoring efforts from
Eva Reinertsen (Duluth, Minn./Homeschooled) with 18 points,
Pashia Scott (Fridley, Minn./Columbia Heights) with 14 and a career-high 12 from
Ellie Leadstrom (Superior, Wis./Superior Senior) to move to 6-5 on the season. UWS will face Waldorf to close the event Monday at 3 p.m. The Warriors fell to St. Scholastica, 68-51, in the first game of the day.
Finlandia's Martina Jahfetson connected on a 3-pointer with 3:58 to play, giving the Lions a 55-54 edge, but those were the last points the visitors would score. UWS finished on a 9-0 run to earn the victory. Leadstrom tallied a layup with 3:31 left to for a 56-55 advantage, forcing a FinnU timeout. Scott followed with a layup at the 2:49 mark, before Leadstrom and
Marissa Ruiz (Inver Grove Heights, Minn./Simley) canned four straight free throws to push the lead to 62-55. Reinertsen put the game away with a final bucket with 1:03 remaining, assisted by Scott.
The 'Jackets outrebounded Finlandia 35-23 on the day, including by a 15-5 margin on the offensive glass. Reinertsen and Scott each pulled down nine boards, while Leadstrom collected five. UWS posted its best outing from the free-throw line of the season, knocking down 15-of-17 attempts. Superior was tough defensively swiping 12 steals and turning 18 Finlandia miscues into 17 points.
UWS led by as many as 10 points at 24-14 with 6:29 left in the second quarter on a pair of
Mady Sanders (Lino Lakes, Minn./Centennial) free throws, but the Lions battled back to trail by just a 30-28 score at halftime. The Lions were 20-of-45 from the field for 44.4 percent while the 'Jackets shot 42.1 percent on 24-of-57 from the floor for the game.
Finlandia (5-11) three times had two-point leads in the fourth quarter, the last of which came on a Katie Lundeen jumper from Carsyn Osterman for 48-46 with 8:25 to play.
Bailey Froberg and Lundeen paced the Lions with 20 and 14 points respectively, in the loss.
