MORRIS, Minn. – Facing the University of Wisconsin-Superior for the second time in less than a week, the University of Minnesota Morris women's basketball team struggled for three quarters but hung around and figured things out in the closing minutes of the game to outlast the Yellow Jackets, 73-67. The victory moves the Cougars to 6-3 on the season and into the semifinals of the UMAC Tournament where they will face No. 1 seed, North Central University, in Minneapolis on Saturday.

The tone for most of the game was set early as Minnesota Morris repeatedly got inside but couldn't convert against UW-Superior's height. Lexie Winter knocked down the first of her two three-pointers in the game to bring the Cougars within a point at 10-9, but a 7-0 run from the Yellow Jackets followed and UW-Superior took a 17-10 lead into the second quarter.

Kaelyn Christian led off the second quarter with a triple to double up UMN Morris at 20-10. The lead grew as high as 11 in the first half until late buckets from Jadyn Sondrol and Lexus Eagle Chasing brought it back to 37-29 at the intermission.

Minnesota Morris seemed to be on the comeback trail in the third quarter when Haley Wollschlager knocked down a three to make it 44-41, but an 8-1 run from UW-Superior followed to put the lead back to 10, 52-42. Eagle Chasing was able to spark the Cougars heading into the fourth quarter with a three-point play in the final seconds to slice the deficit back to seven.

The teams traded baskets throughout the early portion of the fourth quarter until the bench production of Maddie Fenske and Winter brought the Cougars to within three. Fenske connected on three straight baskets at one point and Winter made a driving layup with just over four minutes left to start an 11-0 run that took the Cougars from down five to up six. Eagle Chasing had the go-ahead basket and Sondrol hit a huge three with 90 ticks left on the clock. With UW-Superior forced to chase the game, UMN Morris made four free throws down the stretch to hold on for the win.

Eagle Chasing tied for game-high scoring honors with 22 on the night. Sondrol had 11 and Wollschlager added 10 along with five assists. Fenske and Winter each had eight points off the bench and Ella Van Kempen led the Cougar rebounding effort with eight.

The top four seeds in the UMAC Tournament all advanced on Thursday. No. 3 seed Bethany Lutheran will take on No. 2 University of Northwestern in one semifinal. No. 4 Minnesota Morris will face North Central in the other semifinal on Saturday with a 7 p.m. tip time.