SUPERIOR, Wis. – The Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC) has seen a bundle of women's basketball teams tied for the top spot in league standings, and a handful of upsets have shaken the leaderboard as the campaign progressed. One of those teams that shared some sort of lead for first has been the Yellowjackets.
 
In the final week of regular season contests the 'Jackets played host to Crown College Wednesday evening, and after a pair of 22 and 15-point quarters, they hit double digits in conference victories with a 74-43 win.
 
With the win the Yellowjackets have officially secured their spot in the 2024-25 conference tournament and will await their semifinal opponent after the conclusion of Saturday's games.
 
Game Notes

• The opening quarter saw Superior jump ahead 15-7, commencing with jumpers from Elise Besonen (Ewen, Mich./Ewen-Trout Creek) and Charlotte Ferstl (Plain, Wis./River Valley). Within a minute of checking into the game Emily Dehler (Pierz, Minn./Pierz Healy) was sent to the line, and she logged her first points of the night.
• UWS was able to log steals and counter off turnovers, but were unable to shut down Crown's Brayli Reimer, who scored all first quarter points for the Polars.
• Logging an early jumper in the second frame was Elsa Olson (Cottage Grove, Minn./Park), before Ferstl sent a pass towards MyKenzie Leccia (Somerset, Wis./Somerset) as she garnered a shot beyond the arc to lead 20-9.
• After subbing into the game, Chloe Peterson (Hutchinson, Minn./Hutchinson) took advantage of an empty lane and finished a layup inside the paint. This led to Ferstl logging a pair of jumpers and a Katie Dobson (Black River Falls, Wis./Black River Falls) trey, boosting the Yellowjacket lead to 22 at 31-9.
• Dehler continued to pace on both sides of the ball, logging points off layups and jumpers while grabbing rebounds for UW-Superior. The final 'Jacket to log points in the first half was Hannah Hause (Stanley, Wis./Stanley-Boyd), who took a feed from Haylie Jerde (Isanti, Minn./Cambridge-Isanti) to bring the score to 37-18.
• Superior limited the Polars to just six points in the third, as Leccia and Dobson helped push the offensive output.
• Late in the third, Dobson sent a pass towards Dehler and she drained the shot beyond the arc, leading to a layup by Peterson and a jumper from Dehler. To close the period Peterson dished a feed to Jerde, and she hit a triple of her own, allowing Superior to lead by 28 heading into the final quarter.
• The Yellowjacket bench began to empty in the final frame, leading to a jumper from Hailie Evans (Proctor, Minn./Proctor) after receiving a pass from Megan Schafer (Grantsburg, Wis./Grantsburg).
• Reese Aune (Hibbing, Minn./Hibbing) logged a trey of her own with four minutes remaining, leading to mid-range and long-range buckets from Sydney Crawford (Wausau, Wis./Wausau Area) before Colleen Claude (Centuria, Wis./Homeschool) shut the door with a jumper after grabbing an offensive rebound.
• Dehler led the charge offensively, scoring 13 points and grabbing eight rebounds in just 14 minutes of play.
• Leccia finished the evening with 11 points, while Ferstl logged a double-double with ten points and a game-leading 12 rebounds.
• The Polars were paced by Reimer, scoring 23 points and logging six rebounds.
• Superior shot 41.1 percent from the field and ended with nine successful shots from downtown.

 
The Yellowjackets play their final regular season game Saturday, traveling to James Gremmels Court on the campus of Minnesota Morris. Action is set to start at 4:45 p.m. in Morris, Minn.
  Read Full Article