Yellowjackets 71, Northwestern 67

SUPERIOR, Wis.: Life moves quickly, but every now and then things slow down. They go into slow motion and in the end a moment gets frozen in time. Such was the case Thursday night at Mertz Mortorelli Gym, and the freezing had nothing to do with the grip winter has on Superior and the rest of the Upper Midwest.

With the Yellowjacket women's basketball season hanging in the balance, the game's hot shooter set her sights and released. What happened next occurred in slow motion, with the end result being frozen in time for everyone in the gym.

As the final seconds ticked off the game clock and the Yellowjackets down three, Hannah Norlin (Litchfield, Minn./Litchfield) kicked a pass out to Katie White (Pequot Lakes, Minn./Pequot Lakes), and the senior known as White Lightning took a shot from outside the arc that hit the rim, bounced so high it disappeared, then reappeared as it was going through the basket to tie the game at 60-60 and force overtime. From there the Yellowjackets took over and outlasted Northwestern, gutting out a 71-67 win.

Ugly at times, the Yellowjackets (24-2) bent but didn't break and picked up their 12th straight win and will now host Bethany Lutheran in the Upper Midwest Athletic Conference championship game Saturday afternoon at The Mertz. Bethany Lutheran, the No. 2 seed in the conference tournament, advanced to the title game with a 10-point win over Minnesota Morris Thursday.

The Yellowjackets started fast, opening a sizeable lead early. Norlin hit a pair of free throws with 3:31 to play in the opening quarter to put the Yellowjackets up by 10. Northwestern kept it close and hit a layup late to cut the Yellowjacket lead to seven, 18-11 at the end of the first. The lead hit double digits again early in the second quarter on a Taylor Kane (Grand Rapids, Minn./Grand Rapids) layup and reached a high-water mark of 13 when White hit one of her four threes in the game with 2:37 to play in the half. Northwestern was able to get it back down to single digits again, and the Yellowjackets went to the locker room up 32-23 at the break.

As the second half unfolded the Yellowjackets lost their way, and eventually, would also lose their lead.

Northwestern opened the second half on fire, throwing up three pointers and hitting them to quickly erase an 11-point Yellowjacket lead. But despite going cold, the Yellowjackets were able to hold onto the lead. Northwestern pulled to within one, 40-39 with 4:37 to play in the third quarter, but again the Yellowjackets found their stride and were able to pull away. In the final three minutes Marissa Ruiz (Inver Grove Heights, Minn./Simley), Emily Carpenter (St. Peter, Minn./St. Peter) and Eva Reinertsen (Duluth, Minn./Homeschooled) hit threes on just four possessions, and as the clock ran out the Yellowjackets were up seven, 51-44.

But just as they did in the third, Northwestern came out shooting and pulled to within one, 51-50 with 6:31 to play in regulation. White would hit another three to push the lead to four, but Northwestern wouldn't go away and tied it at 54-54 with 4:43 to play. Then with 45 seconds to play Northwestern took its first lead, 58-57 by sinking a pair of free throws. Two free throws later the lead was three, 60-57 when Yellowjacket Head Coach Zach Otto-Fisher called a timeout, drew up a play, and set the stage for White's buzzer beater to force overtime.

The Yellowjackets won the opening tip of overtime and Reinertsen drew a foul, making both free throws to put the Yellowjackets up two. They wouldn't trail the rest of the way. The Eagles would make it a one-possession game with nine seconds to play, but Carpenter would sink a free throw late to salt away the win for the Yellowjackets.

Norlin registered another double-double, her 11th of the season, scoring 15 points and grabbing 12 rebounds. This night, however, belonged to White, who scored a game-high 16 points in just 18 minutes off the bench, shooting .667 for the game and hitting 4-of-6 from three. Reinertsen and Carpenter also scored in double digits, putting up 12 and 11 points, respectively.

Brooklyn DeKam and Amy Berglund led the way for Northwestern, scoring 15 points apiece.