SUPERIOR, Wis. – Saturday afternoon came down to the top two teams in the Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC) women's basketball tournament, as Mertz Mortorelli Gym hosted the Co-UMAC regular season champions – the Eagles of Northwestern and UW-Superior.
In the semifinals, the Yellowjackets emerged victorious against Martin Luther in the overtime period by a score of 80-75. Inside the Ericksen Center, the Eagles upended Bethany Lutheran 79-66, setting the table for a highly anticipated title match.
And for all Yellowjacket faithful, it was a classic.
UNW established an edge in the first quarter that carried into the second. Superior would tie things up early on but maintained at least a four-point lead heading into halftime. From there, UWS outscored the Eagles 13-8 in the third and 20-13 in the fourth to claim the program's fourth postseason tournament title, and the first one since the 2017-18 campaign.
Game Notes
- Elise Besonen (Ewen, Mich./Ewen-Trout Creek) and MyKenzie Leccia (Somerset, Wis./Somerset) got the scoring started with jumpers inside the arc. A pair of turnovers allowed the Eagles to control the offensive pace as they led 14-8 after the opening ten minutes.
- The opening minutes of the second quarter saw Charlotte Ferstl (Plain, Wis./River Valley) log her first points of the game after grabbing an offensive board with a tip-in layup. A jumper from Elsa Olson (Cottage Grove, Minn./Park) tied things up at 14-14, but UNW utilized Yellowjacket miscues to regain a 26-20 lead heading into the intermission.
- Besonen was sent to the line early in the third, draining both shots in the process. Later she took a feed from Ferstl to drain a triple before Elsa Olson (Cottage Grove, Minn./Park) did the same, this time receiving a pass from Katie Dobson (Black River Falls, Wis./Black River Falls) to tie at 28-28.
- Play continued, and after drawing a foul past the midway mark of the third, Chloe Peterson (Hutchinson, Minn./Hutchinson) split her shots at the charity stripe bringing Superior within one at 30-29.
- Despite UWS outscoring the Eagles in the third, UNW maintained a one-point edge at 34-33 heading into an action-packed fourth.
- Besonen and Ferstl logged jumpers in the fourth before the Eagles gained a six-point lead at 43-37. As the middle of the fourth passed, Elise Besonen (Ewen, Mich./Ewen-Trout Creek) hit a barrage of shots to carry the offense and lead by one. Play continued as a Northwestern layup gave them a one-point edge until Dobson drilled a huge three pointer after receiving a feed from Leccia.
- As the game was under a minute to go, the Eagles were forced to foul but got hands on the Yellowjackets' best player from the charity stripe. Besonen drained both to give UWS a 49-45 lead. Dobson and Emily Dehler (Pierz, Minn./Pierz Healy) each split their free throws after getting fouled until Dobson drew another foul. Her two successful attempts secured the victory for the Yellowjackets, sending the Mertz crowd into hysterics.
- The Yellowjackets utilized a key 16-2 scoring run in the final frame, boosting UWS to its fourth UMAC title.
- Elise Besonen (Ewen, Mich./Ewen-Trout Creek) was the star of the show, scoring 28 points off seven rebounds to pace Superior. For her efforts, she was named the UMAC Tournament MVP.
- Dehler grabbed a team-leading 12 rebounds, while Dobson and Peterson garnered nine and Leccia was tabbed with eight.
- UNW had both Jasmine Sondrol and Ella Falk in double-digit figures, scoring 12 points along with two steals apiece.
With the victory, the 'Jackets have claimed the league's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. Superior will learn their opponent as they tune into the NCAA Selection Show Monday, Mar. 3 at 1:30 p.m. CT.
