MANKATO, Minn. – The UW-Superior women's basketball team had a five-point lead with over five-and-a-half minutes remaining, but Bethany Lutheran closed the game with a prolonged run to stay unbeaten in the Upper Midwest Athletic Conference with a 78-71 home victory on Saturday.
 
Sophomore Paige Servais (Savage, Minn./Burnsville) hit a layup with 5:37 left to put the Yellowjackets up, 64-59, and it looked as though UWS (5-14, 4-6 UMAC) may hold off the Vikings (15-6, 10-0 UMAC), breaking a six-game skid against BLC. The Vikings, however, went 3-for-4 from the field and 13-of-17 from the foul line down the stretch to earn the win.
 
BLC's Hanna Geistfeld scored 37 points and grabbed 12 rebounds, and Haley Meyer added 18 points in support for the Vikings.
 
Junior Kaelyn Christian (St. Michael, Minn./St. Michael-Albertville Senior) led the Yellowjackets with 20 points on 8-of-14 shooting – including four 3-pointers – in 22 minutes off the bench. Servais tallied 12 points and three rebounds, freshman Elise Besonen (Ewen, Mich./Ewen-Trout Creek) scored 11 with five rebounds and three assists and sophomore Sam Parendo (Proctor, Minn./Proctor) had 10 points and three steals.
 
UWS held leads of 19-18 after the first quarter and 55-52 heading into the fourth quarter. Superior shot 47 percent from the floor for the game and 50 percent from 3-point range, but Bethany controlled the glass, 36-25, and made 21 of its 29 free throws.
 
Tight throughout, the game featured 10 tie scores and 13 lead changes. The 'Jackets led by as many as seven points early with an 11-4 advantage before BLC tied it. The Vikings held a 34-33 edge at halftime.
 
Knotted at 48-all with 2:01 remaining in the third quarter, Christian knocked down a trey on a Besonen feed, who then stole the in-bounds pass and cut to the hoop for two more and a 53-48 Superior lead.
 
In the fourth, Servais canned the first of two consecutive baskets for a 62-59 lead with 6:35 to play, hitting the other a minute later, for the five-point cushion prior to BLC's comeback. 
 
UWS returns to action Friday at Mertz Mortorelli Gymnasium against North Central. Tip time is set for 5:30 p.m.