MORRIS, Minn. – The University of Minnesota Morris women's basketball team may have suffered a 66-64 loss at the hands of the University of Wisconsin-Superior on Friday night, but the Cougars have a lot to build on after staying with the Yellowjackets to the end without the services of Maddy Grove and only eight players in uniform on the night. The win all but clinches the UMAC regular-season title for UW-Superior as they improve to 14-8 (10-1 UMAC). The Cougars slip to 12-10 (8-3 UMAC) and have a one-game lead in the battle for the No. 2 seed in the UMAC Tournament. 

A layup from Shelby Mortenson and a Jadyn Sondrol three-pointer gave the Cougars a brief 5-3 lead in the early exchanges, but UW-Superior answered back with a quick six in a row. Down 9-5, Claire Stark hit a couple from the line and a combined hustle play from Grace Perry and Sondrol contributed to a fast-break layup from Jay Kwateh to tie it back up at 9-9. The Cougar offense went silent in the late stages of the quarter and the Yellowjackets went on a 9-0 run to double up at 18-9. Before the quarter was through, Alice Wilkinson and Mortenson both scored to give the Cougars some life as the first 10 minutes ended with the Yellowjackets in front, 20-13.

Elise Besonen drained a three for UW-Superior in the opening seconds of the second quarter, but Minnesota Morris responded with a 6-0 run that was capped by a Sondrol steal and uncontested layup to slice it to 23-19. With both teams locking in on defense in the frame, made baskets were hard to come by. Late in the half, a Malory Anderson pass underneath to Perry led to a three-point play to make it 31-26 in favor of the Yellowjackets at the break.

After a layup from Mortenson and a steal and layup from Kwateh, Minnesota Morris had the deficit down to three, 35-32, with two minutes gone in the third quarter, but the Cougars would proceed to go more than four minutes without a bucket. In that stretch, UW-Superior put together another 9-0 run and took its largest lead of the contest, 44-32. Instead of packing it in, Minnesota Morris got to work and outscored the Yellowjackets, 12-4, in the final four minutes to pull within 48-44 heading into the final quarter.

The fourth quarter featured big shot-making from both sides, starting with consecutive layups from Mortenson that brought the crowd to its feet with the game tied up for the first time since the opening quarter at 48-48. After falling behind again by four, Stark swished in a wing jumper and a Perry triple followed to give Minnesota Morris a 53-52 lead. That brief moment in front was ended less than 15 seconds later when Elsa Olson connected on a jumper to give the Yellowjackets the lead for good.

That's not to say it was a stroll to the finish line for UW-Superior. After retaking a five-point lead in the final minute, the Yellowjackets turned the ball over and Kwateh drove in for a three-point play to cut the deficit to two with just over 30 seconds to play. After the visitors made one of two at the line, Minnesota Morris had the ball and a chance to pull closer in the final 10 seconds, but Anderson's layup was off and the Yellowjackets nabbed the rebound and made a pair of free throws. Sondrol embodied the UMN Morris full 40-minute effort by swishing a shot from beyond half-court before time expired to bring the final margin to two.

Mortenson shot 8-of-12 from the floor to finish with a game-high 16 points on the night. Kwateh had 15 points and added six steals. Perry was also in double-figures with 11. Stark had eight points, nine rebounds, and a pair of blocked shots. Reese Wassink also finished with two blocked shots and tacked on four points. Anderson had her usual night of filling the stat sheet with eight rebounds, five assists, and three steals. 

Minnesota Morris has its final home game of the regular season tomorrow afternoon, welcoming in Northland College for a 3 p.m. tip.