SUPERIOR, Wis. – Don't look now, but the Yellowjacket women's basketball is rolling.
 
After losing two straight and sitting two games below .500, the Yellowjacket women won two in a row, and with a win Saturday, would have a winning record for the first time during the 2023-24 season. Their opponent Saturday, Minnesota Morris, came to town after putting a 60-point beatdown on Northland College Friday, a game where the Cougars scored a season-high 92 points.
 
The Yellowjackets took all the drama out of this one early, riding a big first quarter to a 59-41 win over Minnesota Morris at Mertz Mortorelli Gym.
 
As an added bonus, the win not only gave the Yellowjackets three straight victories, but it also kept them on pace with the leaders in the Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC).
 
Elise Besonen (Ewen, Mich./Ewen-Trout Creek), as she has so many time so far this season, paced the Yellowjackets (5-4, 2-0 UMAC) with a big offensive game. The junior guard finished the game with 24 points, and put her stamp on things early with a 19-point output in the first half.
 
Morris scored the first five points of the quarter, as the Yellowjackets were cold early. The 'Jackets didn't score in the game's first three minutes and broke through when MyKenzie Leccia (Somerset, Wis./Somerset) hit a jumper with 6:47 to play. Besonen then scored five straight points, and within a minute of draining their first basket, the Yellowjackets were in front, 7-5. The Yellowjackets finished the quarter with a 22-5 run over the final six minutes and shot 53.33 percent in the frame to lead 22-10.
 
The Yellowjackets cooled slightly in the second quarter, hitting on just 6-of-18 field goal attempts, but the output was enough to increase their lead. Besonen started the scoring with a three in the first minute, and she would add another with 3:31 to go in the half. In between the Yellowjackets got buckets from Charlotte and Chloe Peterson (Hutchinson, Minn./Hutchinson), increasing the lead to 32-15. The teams traded baskets the rest of the quarter and the Yellowjackets led 37-19 at the half.
 
Ferstl hit a jumper in the opening minute of the third quarter to push the Yellowjacket lead to 20 points. After that, however, Morris began to heat up, outscoring the Yellowjackets in the third and cutting the lead to 16, 48-32 entering the fourth.
 
The Yellowjackets were able to get the lead back up to 19 in the final frame, but they had little difficulty with the Cougars, outscoring them 11-9 in the quarter to cruise to the home win.
 
Ferstl posted a double-double in the game, finishing with 14 points and 11 rebounds. It was her second double-double in the last three games.
 
Newcomer Emily Dehler (Pierz, Minn./Pierz Healy) also had a strong performance Saturday, finishing with eight points and 11 rebounds, both season highs. She also played 25 minutes, her highest total on the season to date.
 
Leccia had four steals in the game, marking the sixth time this season she has had at least four steals in a game.
 
The Yellowjackets will be back home Wednesday, Dec. 13 when they host UW-Eau Claire. The opening tip is set for 5:30 p.m. at Mertz Mortorelli Gym.