With several important WIAC conference games fast approaching, the UW-Superior women's basketball team hoped to use their final non-conference game of 2013-2014 against Northland College to sharpen their play heading into the stretch run.
The Yellowjackets came through in fine fashion, overwhelming the Lumberjills midway through the first half before cruising after halftime to a 90-40 victory at Mertz Mortorelli Gymnasium.
UW-Superior shot 48.1 percent (39-of-81) from the field and held a commanding 58-26 edge in rebounding to notch their third straight win and improve to 12-6 overall.
Northland meanwhile dropped their fourth straight to fall to 3-13 for the season.
The Yellowjackets took the lead from the get-go as Sally Linzmeier (Valders, Wis./Valders) opened the scoring with a jumper with 19:10 left to give UW-Superior a 2-0 lead.
Northland came back to even matters when Erin Gilligan knocked down a jumper 3:02 into the contest to even matters at 2-2.
UW-Superior went on to score the next 15 points however to take a 17-2 lead with 11:35 left in half on a layup by Grace Kennedy (Wausau, Wis./Newman Catholic).
Autumn Ackerman (Pine River, Minn./Pine River-Backus) and Kennedy each scored four points during the run while Britnee Blake (Superior, Wis./Superior Senior), Brynn Liljander (Isanti, Minn./Cambridge-Isanti), Jayme Malnory (Eau Claire, Wis./Memorial) and Allyssa Lindberg (Marquette, Mich./Marquette) all tallied scores as well for UW-Superior.
The Yellowjackets continued to pull away from there, taking a 29-12 lead on a jumper by Deandra Vavra (Cambridge, Minn./Cambridge-Isanti) with 5:34 left before expanding the edge to 37-13 on a jumper by Linzmeier with 3:06 remaining in the opening half.
UW-Superior took their largest lead of the opening 20 minutes when Katie Boone (Mindoro, Wis./Melrose-Mindoro) knocked down two free throws with 16 seconds left for a 41-16 bulge at the intermission.
From there, the Yellowjackets were never threatened, as they outscored Northland 49-24 after the break and led by as many as 53 late in the stanza.
The Yellowjackets were led by Lindberg with a game-high 13 points. Linzmeier finished with 12 while Kennedy pitched in with 10.
Gilligan, Lily Sandstrom and Sarah Hudson all had nine points for Northland.
UW-Superior returns to conference action Saturday as they take on UW-Stevens Point at Berg Gymnasium. The game can be heard starting at 5 p.m. on 91.3 FM KUWS. Matt Johnson will have the call.