ASHLAND, Wis.: It's been a long time for the Yellowjacket women's basketball team. How long? The last time they took to the court there was over a week to go in November, and there was nary an inch of snow on the ground. It was 13 days ago that the Yellowjackets last played a game heading into Wednesday's UMAC opener at Northland. The 'Jackets would be well rested, to be sure, but would there be any rust? Only time would tell.

The Yellowjackets jumped out to an early lead Wednesday, but Northland battled from behind and kept things close in the second half, forcing the Yellowjackets to dig extra deep to pick up a 79-66 win at Kendrigan Gymnasium on the Northland College campus. With the win the Yellowjackets snapped a two-game losing streak to improve to 3-4 overall and 1-0 in the UMAC.

Wednesday's was a physical contest, as the teams combined for 53 fouls, including 30 in the second half - the Yellowjackets were whistled for 27 fouls, while Northland committed 26. The physical style seemed to agree with Northland, as they outscored the Yellowjackets 46-35 in the final 20 minutes, but the lead the Yellowjackets built in the first half was too much to overcome.

The Yellowjackets opened the scoring just 26 seconds into the game when Eva Reinertsen, who found herself in foul trouble early, sank a pair of free throws to give the Yellowjackets a lead. Northland would answer before Ellie Leadstrom put a layup home to make it 4-2. That was just 35 seconds into the game and it would be the last time the game would be tied. The Yellowjackets would go on a 12-0 run late in the first quarter and lead 26-10 after the opening 10 minutes.

It was more of the same in the second quarter as the Yellowjackets continued to dominate on both ends of the floor. They opened the quarter with an 11-2 run to move ahead 37-13. Marissa Ruiz and Mikayla Koivisto would close out the first half scoring, hitting back-to-back layups in the final minute to give the Yellowjackets a 44-20 lead at the break.

Things turned a little more rugged in the second half, and the physical play combined with good shooting saw Northland start to close the gap. A layup with 3:30 to go in the third quarter got the deficit under 20, and before the quarter ended the Yellowjacket lead was down to 17, 61-44. The pace of play stayed slow in the fourth quarter, but despite the choppy and physical play the Yellowjackets were able to maintain their lead. In the waning minutes of the half Northland was able to again start to close the gap, but it wouldn't be enough and the Yellowjackets earned the win on the road.

Pashia Scott led all scorers with 17 points and also pulled down seven rebounds. Emily Carpenter had 16 points and a team-high three assists. Ruiz and Mady Sanders each dropped in 10 points coming off the bench. Sanders was particularly strong, shooting 80 percent from the floor and doing her damage in just 11 minutes of play. As a team the Yellowjackets shot 49.1 percent for the game.

Bailey Wynn led the way for Northland with 12 points.