SUPERIOR, Wis. – Four starters scored in double figures to pace the UW-Superior women's basketball team to an 80-60 win over Minnesota Morris at Mertz Mortorelli Gym on Sunday.
Seniors
Emily Carpenter (St. Peter, Minn./St. Peter) and
Marissa Ruiz (Inver Grove Heights, Minn./Simley) scored 17 points apiece while classmate
Eva Reinertsen (Duluth, Minn./Homeschooled) tallied 13. Junior
Ellie Leadstrom (Superior, Wis./Superior Senior) chipped in with 10 points and four rebounds. Reinertsen grabbed 10 boards to complete her third consecutive double-double. Carpenter added five rebounds, four assists and four steals as the Yellowjackets improved to 10-5 overall and 6-1 in the Upper Midwest Athletic Conference. Ruiz dished out a game-high-tying five assists.
The 'Jackets shot 44 percent from the field on the day and turned 22 Minnesota Morris turnovers into 35 points to secure the victory.
Superior led, 39-24, at the halftime before the Cougars clawed their way back, shaving the deficit to just seven points at 47-40 on a pair of free throws from Abby Van Kampen. UWS responded, embarking on a 9-0 run to restore a comfortable margin heading into the fourth quarter, up 58-41.
From there, the 'Jackets expanded their lead to 22 points when
Liberty Blaine (Grand Rapids, Minn./Grand Rapids Senior) knocked down one from the line for a 77-55 advantage.
UWS took its first double-digit lead at 15-4 four minutes into the game on a Carpenter layup. Morris rallied to close the gap to 19-13 at the end of the first quarter. Leadstrom gave her team its largest lead of the half – 39-21 with 1:44 to play in the second quarter – hitting a free throw before the Cougars' Haley Wollschlager drained a 3-pointer to close the half.
Eleven different players scored for Superior, which got 40 points in the paint, 19 on the break and 20 from its bench.
Van Kampen led Morris (8-7, 4-3 UMAC) with 17 points and 11 rebounds in the loss. Mia Wassink had 14 points and seven boards.
Superior travels to face Northwestern Wednesday at 7:15 p.m.
