SUPERIOR, Wis. – After splitting a pair of games at last week's Superior Shootout Classic, the Yellowjacket women's basketball team was back home Saturday, jumping back into Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC) play against Northland College.
 
The LumberJills came into the game with a depleted roster, and the Yellowjackets took advantage, cruising to an 82-31 win over Northland at Mertz Mortorelli Gym.
 
With the victory the Yellowjackets (7-7, 3-0 UMAC) pulled their record back to the .500 mark while keeping their hold on first place in the UMAC. The Yellowjackets are the only team in the UMAC with a clean conference record.
 
Three players hit double figures for the Yellowjackets Saturday, with Charlotte Ferstl (Plain, Wis./River Valley), MyKenzie Leccia (Somerset, Wis./Somerset) and Elise Besonen (Ewen, Mich./Ewen-Trout Creek) all finishing with 10 points. Ferstl also finished with a team-high nine rebounds, putting her just one board shy of her third double-double of the season.
 
Besonen scored the first bucket of the game less than a minute in, and the Yellowjackets would never relinquish the lead. The 'Jackets blew the game wide open in the first quarter, leading 19-3 after the opening 10 minutes. In the second quarter the Yellowjackets continued to exert their will on Northland and increased the lead to 34-14 at the half.
 
In the third quarter the Yellowjackets found their offensive stride in a big way, shooting over 63 percent from the field, and outscoring Northland 30-5 in the frame. The Yellowjackets continued the hot shooting in the fourth quarter and finished the game going 35-for-72 from the field on the way to 82 points, their highest offensive yield of the season. The last time the Yellowjackets have scored at least 82 points in a single game, you have to go back to Jan. 19, 2022 when they also scored 82 in a win over Northland.
 
The Yellowjackets had 15 different players log minutes Saturday, and 13 of the 15 registered at least one point. Katie Dobson (Black River Falls, Wis./Black River Falls) posted eight points, while Sidney Bader (Milltown, Wis./Unity) notched a career-high eight points off the bench. Bader also added five rebounds, second in the game to Ferstl.
 
Northland's Tara Sandoval led all scorers in the game, finishing with 14 points.
 
Next up for the Yellowjackets is a road game at Northwestern. The opening tip is set for 5:30 p.m. Friday at the Ericksen Center in St. Paul.