Yellowjackets 82, St. Scholastica 68

Coming off a tough loss on Wednesday at Eau Claire, the Yellowjacket women's basketball team looked to rebound against Twin Ports-rival St. Scholastica and head into the holiday break on a positive note.  They did just that and then some, leading wire-to-wire en route to a 82-68 win on Saturday afternoon at Mertz Mortorelli Gym.

The game marked the return of Bri Davis (Hermantown, Minn./Hermantown), who had been out of the lineup since mid-November with an injury.  Davis was rock-solid in her season debut at home, scoring the first four points of the game for the Yellowjackets.  She would shoot 63.5% for the game, scoring 11 points and also pulled down five rebounds in 26 minutes of play.

Leading 4-0, Haley Hoyer hit a three-pointer to pull the Saints to within one, but that's as close as they would get on this day.  The Yellowjackets would respond, going on a 14-2 run over the next four minutes, with each of the five starters scoring at least two points in taking an 18-5 lead.  A pair of free throws by Keely Deadrick (Esko, Minn./Esko) with just under four minutes to play in the first half would give the Yellowjackets their largest lead of the day at 41-18.  The Saints would heat up, however, as the half closed, going on a 15-4 run to hit the break trailing the Yellowjackets by a dozen at 45-33.

The second half was a tennis match, with the teams trading buckets for a majority of the 20 minutes.  The Saints clawed back to within nine points, only to see the Yellowjackets immediately build the lead back up to 15 points thanks to a pair of threes by Connie Urmanski (Edgar, Wis./Edgar).  The Yellowjackets again built the lead back to 20 points on a jumper by Davis with just over ten minutes to play in the half.  From there the lead never dipped below 12 points and 15 different players got in the game as the Yellowjackets cruised to their fifth win of the season.

Sally Linzmeier (Valders, Wis./Valders) and Hailey Hart (Osseo, Wis./Osseo-Fairchild) paced the Yellowjackets, each finishing the game with a double-double.  Linzmeier had a game-high 17 points and also had ten rebounds.  Hart finished with 16 points and also had ten rebounds.  Urmanski had 12 points and Deadrick finished with 11 points as five Yellowjackets scored in double figures.  The Yellowjackets shot 39.5% as a team and nine different players scored in the game.

Hart led the Yellowjackets with four assists.  Urmanski and Deadrick had two blocks each and Linzmeier had a team-best four steals to lead the Yellowjackets defensively.

Mariah Hovick led the Saints with 16 points, while Kayla Heiser and Laura Amys had 14 and ten points respectively.

Milestone Update: with her 16 points, Hart has moved into 11th place on the all-time scoring list with 890 points.  Next up is Maggie Dittburner who is tenth all-time with 933 points.  Hart's ten rebounds give her 517 for her career, keeping her in ninth place on the all-time list.  She is 39 rebounds behind eighth place Sheri Domitrovich.

The Yellowjackets (5-5, 1-3 WIAC) are now off until December 29 when they will take on Saint Mary's University in Winona, Minn.  Tip-off is scheduled for 6:00 p.m.