The date was December 15, 1987.  Ronald Reagan was the President of the United States and was entering the final year of his second term in office.  On that date Faith by George Michael was the No. 1 song in the nation.  Stephen King had not one, but two books - Misery and The Tommyknockers on the national best-seller list.  On the big screen  Predator, starring UW-Superior alumnus Arnold Schwarzenegger was just hitting theatres.

The date also marks the last time that the Yellowjacket women's basketball was victorious over UW-Eau Claire.  Not a single member of the 2012-13 Yellowjackets was born at the time of that 1987 victory, but they will all be remembered as the team that ended 25 years of misery. 

A pair of Connie Urmanski (Edgar, Wis./Edgar) free throws with 18 seconds left made it a three-possession game and provided the winning margin as the Yellowjackets ended a quarter-century of frustration with a 73-65 win at Mertz Mortorelli Gym.

The victory marks the second lengthy losing skid the Yellowjackets have broken this season.  On December 1 they snapped a streak dating back to 1995 against UW-Stevens Point.

The first half saw the Yellowjackets and Blugolds trading baskets in a tight first half.  Neither team was able to build a lead of more than three points and there were six ties in the first ten minutes.  With 9:45 to play Hillary Peterson (Sturgeon Lake, Minn./Moose Lake) hit a jumper along the baseline to give the Yellowjackets an 18-16 lead, and the home team was off and running.  Just over a minute later Peterson hit another jumper and the lead was up to four. 

After the Blugolds trimmed the lead to one, the Yellowjackets went on 12-1, paced by Urmanski who had five points in that span, to increase the lead to 32-20.  Kristen Nett (Green Bay, Wis./Bay Port) punctuated the run with a three-point play to give the Yellowjackets their biggest edge of the evening.  The Blugolds went on a run to close the gap to five at 36-31, but a Peterson jumper with eight seconds put her in double figures for the first half and gave the Yellowjackets a 38-31 lead at the break.

UW-Eau Claire came out flying in the second half and quickly erased the Yellowjacket lead, tying the game in just over two minutes.  A Sarah Bingea layup with 16:32 to play gave the Blugolds their first lead since midway through the first half at 40-38. 

The teams again traded baskets, with a Nett three-pointer giving the Yellowjackets a 50-46 lead with just over 13 minutes to play.  The Blugolds again came back and tied things at 50-50, the tenth tie of the game.  With 11:06 to play team captain Urmanski hit her second three of the game, giving the Yellowjackets a 53-50 lead, a lead they would not relinquish.

From there the Yellowjackets kept it a multi-possession game.  Leading scorer Sally Linzmeier (Valders, Wis./Valders) completed a three-point play with 6:12 to play to make it a seven-point advantage at 63-56.  Then with just over two minutes to play Linzmeier stole the ball and was fouled.  She drained both free throws to stretch the lead to 69-61.

In the final 78 seconds, Urmanski and Grace Kennedy (Wausau, Wis./Newman Catholic) hit key free throws to salt the game away for the Yellowjackets, giving them the eight-point win.

The Yellowjackets continued to play a pressing defense, forcing the Blugolds to shoot at just 37.7% for the game.  It's the fifth time in eight games that the Yellowjackets held the opposition under 40% shooting.  The Yellowjackets, meanwhile, fired at a furious clip, hitting nearly half of their shots, finishing 29-of-59 from the floor (49.2%).  They were 4-of-9 from outside the arc and outscored the Blugolds 30-20 in the paint.

Linzmeier again led the Yellowjackets offensively, cracking the 20-point mark for the fourth time in the last five games, finishing with 24.  Urmanski and Nett each finished with 15 points while Peterson dropped in 12.  Kennedy added five points off the bench.  Urmanski had five assists and Peterson seven rebounds to lead the Yellowjackets.

Defensively, Linzmeier had six of the Yellowjackets' ten steals, while Urmanski, Peterson, Cansis Bodsberg (Rice Lake, Wis./Boyceville) and Allyssa Lindberg (Marquette, Mich./Marquette) had one block apiece. 

Milestone Update: With her 15 points, Urmanski jumped past Beth Clark (1983-87) and Bri Davis (2008-12) into ninth place on the all-time scoring list with 955 points.  Next up is Ann DeBruin (1982-87) who is eighth with 980 points.   Urmanski's five assists also pushed her into sole possession of fourth place on the all-time assist list with 217.  She needs seven assists to jump past Sandy Eilertsen (1983-87) into third place all-time.  Urmanski has now hit 169 three pointers, far and away a school record.  Urmanski's free throw success rate of .860 is also tops in school history.

The Yellowjackets (6-2, 3-1 WIAC) will close out their games for the first semester on Friday, December 14 when they host Twin Ports rival St. Scholastica at Mertz Mortorelli Gym beginning at 7:00 p.m.