MORRIS, Minn. – Minnesota Morris limited the UW-Superior women's basketball team to just 26.5 percent shooting from the field and opened the game up in the second half on the way to a 64-47 win in the Upper Midwest Athletic Conference tournament quarterfinals at Jim Gremmels Court on Wednesday.
 
The Yellowjackets held a 17-10 lead after the first quarter before going cold from the floor. UWS, which also fell to the Cougars to close the pandemic-shortened season last spring, end the year at 6-19 overall. Minnesota Morris (12-14) advances to face Bethany Lutheran on the road on Friday.
 
UWS jumped out to a 12-4 advantage with 3:15 to play in the first quarter with an 8-0 run that junior Kaelyn Christian (St. Michael, Minn./St. Michael-Albertville Senior) punctuated with a fastbreak layup, forcing a Morris timeout. The Cougars' Jadyn Sondrol hit consecutive 3-pointers out of the timeout to pull her team within 12-10 prior to freshman Allie Zimmer (Waconia, Minn./Waconia) responding with a trey of her own. Junior Kaija Davies (Aitkin, Minn./Aitkin) pushed lead to seven with a bucket in the paint with a minute remaining in the period.
 
Minnesota Morris rallied with a 9-0 run to take its first lead of the day when Lexus Eagle Chasing went the length of the floor for a layup with 8:37 left before halftime. A pair of free throws from Brianna O'Donnell (Richfield, Minn./Richfield) a minute and a half later tied the game, 19-19. 
 
Sondol scored the next five points, hitting another triple with a Malory Anderson assist and following it with a jumper – also assisted by Anderson – to restore the lead. Junior Mady Sanders (Lino Lakes, Minn./Centennial) and sophomore Sam Parendo (Proctor, Minn./Proctor) combined to pull Superior even again, at 24-all, with Parendo knocking down a 3-pointer. 
 
Sondrol hit a layup at the two-minute mark to give the Cougars the control of the game once more and they didn't let go this time. UMM extended its edge to 31-26 at the break.
 
Morris engineered an 8-0 stretch to open the second half, taking a 39-26 advantage, growing it to as many as 17 points late in the third quarter. The 'Jackets couldn't mount a comeback in the final 10 minutes as Morris put the game away.
 
Sanders paced Superior with eight points and eight rebounds, while Davies chipped in seven points and two blocks. O'Donnell contributed six points and six rebounds.
 
Eagle Chasing led the Cougars with 23 points and 10 rebounds and Sondrol finished with 18 points and seven boards. 
 
The 'Jackets outrebounded Morris, 46-42, in the losing effort, but scored just nine points in the second and third quarters, respectively.