Slow starts haven't often been a problem for the UW-Superior women's basketball team during the 2010-2011 campaign.
Wednesday evening proved to be an exception to that rule however as the Yellowjackets fell behind UW-Stout early in the first half and never recovered during a 78-66 loss to the Blue Devils at Mertz Mortorelli Gymnasium.
In dropping their 11th WIAC conference game of the season, the Yellowjackets (8-14 overall, 2-11 WIAC) shot just 26.3 percent from the field during the opening half while the Blue Devils (9-14, 4-10) managed to connect on 51.6 percent of their attempts in the first 20 minutes on the way to building a 13-point halftime lead.
UW-Superior got off to a promising start in the opening four minutes, getting five points each from Hailey Hart (Osseo, Wis.) and Bri Davis (Hermantown, Minn.) along with a layup from senior Kelsey Thingvold (Crystal, Minn.) to take a 12-8 following Davis' bucket with 16:45 left in the opening half.
The Blue Devils responded in short order, going on a 10-2 behind four points each from Kimmy Keehr and Whitney Rawdon to taken 18-14 lead with 12:40 showing on the clock.
Hart and Connie Urmanski (Edgar, Minn.) got baskets at 12:06 and 10:02 respectively to keep the Yellowjackets to within 20-18 with just over 10 minutes left in the half.
But UW-Stout would go on an extended run, outscoring the Yellowjackets 18-9 for the rest of the half and holding UW-Superior without a point in the final 4:24 to take a 38-25 lead into the intermission.
Hart connected on a long three-pointer on the first possession of the second half to bring UW-Superior to within 38-28 with 19:16 left in regulation.
The Blue Devils would go on an 8-2 run over the next 4:45 however, taking their largest lead of the game at 46-30 on Rawdon's basket with 14:31 showing on the clock.
From there, the closest the Yellowjackets would come would be 57-50 following Urmanski's layup with 5:36 remaining in the second half.
Offensively, the Yellowjackets were paced by Davis' game-high 23 points and 10 rebounds. Hart added 12 points while Thingvold finished with 10 points for UW-Superior.
Rawdon led a balanced attack for UW-Stout with 16 points. Keehr and Kayla Windt added 15 points each with Tricia VanVreede pitching in with 13 points.