CHICAGO, Ill. – After receiving a fourth-place finish in the 2023-24 Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC) preseason poll, the Yellowjacket women's basketball team opened their season at the 2023 Midway Classic, held on the campus of the University of Chicago. Their first test would come against North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC) competitor Denison.
The Big Red commenced the scoring with two layups courtesy of Abby Cooch. Shortly after, Yellowjacket freshman
Charlotte Ferstl (Plain, Wis./River Valley) would notch her first collegiate points with a layup which was followed by a pair of free throws from junior
Elise Besonen (Ewen, Mich./Ewen-Trout Creek). Denison would take those points back with a pair of layups, but
Elsa Olson (Cottage Grove, Minn./Park) and
MyKenzie Leccia (Somerset, Wis./Somerset) landed jump-shots to give the Yellowjackets a 15-11 lead after the first ten minutes of play.
Action in the second quarter was tight, as neither team was able to secure anything higher than a three-point margin. Besonen finished a layup at 6:54, which was countered by a layup of Big Red's Brooke Toigo.
Hannah Hause (Stanley, Wis./Stanley-Boyd) would score her first points of the season with a layup to provide a 19-16 lead, which was followed by Ferstl shooting a pair of jumpers within the paint. Denison's Ava Warcaba scored the remaining eight points of the quarter, keeping the Big Red just a single point shy of the Yellowjackets heading into the half. UWS held a game-high 46.1 field-goal percentage within the second quarter.
The Yellowjackets took a bit of time to get back into the swing of things in the third quarter, as Hause notched the first bucket at 7:21. A three-pointer from
Chloe Peterson (Hutchinson, Minn./Hutchinson) and two free-throws from Olson saw the 'Jackets take a 34-31 lead, but that was swiftly countered with a Denison layup courtesy of Violet Mitchell. Besonen contributed four additional points, but the Big Red ended the third with a three-point advantage.
Denison struck first in the fourth, as Morgan Kress took a foul from Leccia and gave her squad a four-point advantage at 42-38. Leccia countered just 90 seconds later with a three-point shot and Ferstl knocked down another jumper to give the Yellowjackets a 43-42 lead. The Big Red's offense would kick things into gear, however, as three different players secured points leading them to a 51-45 lead with under three minutes remaining.
Elsa Olson (Cottage Grove, Minn./Park) would knock down a free throw and Ferstl a layup, but Abigail Westmeyer would take one through the lane and give Denison a 53-50 lead. Besonen took a shot from beyond the arc right at the buzzer, but that missed the mark as the Big Red came out with the win in a closely contested game.
Ferstl finished her first college game with 16 points and four rebounds. She was successful in all her free throws, along with Besonen who finished with 11 points, two steals and five rebounds. Newcomer
Emily Dehler (Pierz, Minn./Pierz Healy) led the squad with seven rebounds while also contributing three steals. Leccia ended with seven points and a team-leading four steals while also picking up four boards.
The Yellowjackets are back in action Sunday as they face Pomona-Pitzer in their final matchup at the Midway Classic. Tipoff inside Ratner Center is set for 1 p.m.
