SUPERIOR, Wis. – The University of Minnesota Morris women's basketball team had a poor start to the game and were unable to pull within single digits in the second half of a 59-41 loss to the University of Wisconsin-Superior on Saturday. The Cougars drop to 3-7 (1-1 UMAC) with the defeat.

The opening minutes went in favor of Minnesota Morris. Jay Kwateh began the scoring and Maddy Grove notched a three-point play to put the Cougars ahead, 5-0, after more than three minutes. UW-Superior got rolling soon thereafter, finishing the first quarter on a 22-5 run to take a 12-point lead.

The Yellowjackets then scored the first seven points of the second quarter to go on top, 29-10, before Reece Wassink made a short jumper to end the Cougar drought. Despite seven straight from Wassink in the quarter, Minnesota Morris went to the half trailing, 37-19.

Minnesota Morris enjoyed a slight advantage, 13-11, in the third quarter to bring the deficit down to 16. The Cougars then had jumpers from Claire Stark and Lexus Redthunder bring them within 12, 48-36, with eight minutes remaining. Hopes of a UMN Morris comeback were dashed by a 7-0 UW-Superior run that followed, pushing the Yellowjacket lead back up to 19 points with less than five minutes to go. 

Grove finished the afternoon with a team-high 11 points. Malory Anderson had eight points and eight rebounds. Wassink led the way off the bench, hitting all three of her field goal attempts and scoring seven points.

Minnesota Morris returns to James Gremmels Court on Monday night, hosting Waldorf University in a non-conference matchup at 5:30 p.m.