UWS hoop teams sweep Northland College

The University of Wisconsin-Superior basketball teams opened the season with a doubleheader Tuesday night at Northland College’s Kendrigan Gymnasium in Ashland.

The Yellowjackets women opened the night with a 72-47 win over the Lumberjills.

UWS led by as many at 20 points three times in the first half, including 43-23 at the halftime intermission.

Superior’s lead ballooned to 32 points on a Bri Davis 3-pointer with eight minutes remaining.

Sally Linzmeier led the Yellowjackets with 15 points. Connie Urmanski was next with 14 points and four rebounds; Hailey Hart had nine points and a team-high six rebounds; Davis added eight points; and Carly Chell chipped in with four points.

UWS shot 53 percent from the floor, including 5-of-8 on 3-pointers and 13-of-23 from the free-throw line.

Maria Mackey led Northland College with 18 points and six rebounds. Sara Hoge added eight points and a team-high five rebounds.

The UWS women play again at 5 p.m. Friday against Dominican University in the St. Norbert College Tournament. The other semifinal game has the host Green Knights facing Martin Luther. The third-place and championship games are at 1 and 3 p.m. Saturday.

UWS men win

Ben Aalfs scored 24 points and grabbed 10 rebounds, both game highs, to help the UWS men complete a sweep of Northland College with a 74-72 win in the nightcap.

Bronson Byrne and Adam Hjelter added 12 points apiece and Dustin Ritchie chipped in with 11 points and a game-high six assists.

Adriam Flores led Northland College with 16 points. RJ Dean added 13 points, Michael Mackey had 12 and Eric Krall and Sean Augustyn chipped in with 11 apiece.

Play went back and forth for the opening five minutes with at least a dozen lead changes.

Northland College gradually built a couple of five-point leads, the latest 27-22 with 8:04 left in the first half.

The Lumberjacks then went on a 10-4 run and took a 37-26 lead on Mackey’s 3-pointer.

After the lead reached 13 points, back-to-back turnovers helped UWS make it a single-digit game, 43-36, on a pair of Ritchie baskets in the final seconds of the first half.

Ritchie and Aalfs led UWS in the first half with 10 points apiece.

UWS continued to roll in the second half and tied the game 46-46 before five minutes ticked off the clock.

Northland College rebuilt a 52-47 lead, but a pair of Hjelter 3-pointers gave UWS a 55-52 lead, its first lead since early in the first half, with seven minutes remaining in the second half.

Six straight free throws helped UWS open up a pair of five-point leads, the latest 62-57 with 4:34 remaining.

The ’Jacks didn’t go away and three free throws made it a one-point game, 62-61, when UWS called a timeout with 2:49 on the clock.

After the teams traded baskets, Aalfs nailed a 3-pointer and then a jumper in the lane to give UWS a 69-65 lead with 50 seconds remaining. Each team made a free throw for 70-66 with 28 seconds left.

Eric Holten then hit two free throws for Superior, but Krall followed with a 3-pointer to get Northland College within 72-69 with 16 seconds left.

Dean made three free throws for the Lumberjacks for a 73-72 score with eight seconds left.

Ritchie’s free throw gave UWS a 74-72 lead seconds later and then Ashland lost the ball out of bounds to seal the victory for the Yellowjackets.

’JACKET JOTTINGS: UWS shot just 23-of-39 (59 percent) from the free-throw line. … NC was called for two technical fouls, but the Yellowjackets missed all four free throws. … The UWS men will host the Merrill Thompson Tip-Off Classic Friday and Saturday at Mertz Mortorelli Gym. Edgewood and LSSU play at 6 p.m. Friday, followed by UWS and Finlandia at 8 p.m. The losers will play at 1 p.m. Saturday and the championship game is at 3 p.m.

Tags: sports, basketball, uws, yellowjackets, superior, updates, ashland