Yellowjackets 80, Stout 58
Box score

Wednesday's game at Mertz Mortorelli Gym couldn't have unfolded much better for head coach Don Mulhern and his staff.  His Yellowjackets hit the floor and were shooting the lights out, building a sizeable lead in the opening half.  Despite a slight fall-off in shooting in the second half, UW-Stout never got back to within shouting distance, allowing the Yellowjackets to get 15 different players into the game.  In the end, the Yellowjackets cruised to their first conference win of the season, 80-58 over the Blue Devils.

Wins over UW-Stout have been rare - Wednesday's victory marks just the fourth time in the last 40 meetings that the Yellowjackets have beaten the Blue Devils.

The star of the first half for the Yellowjackets was Hillary Peterson (Sturgeon Lake, Minn./Moose Lake).  The junior center from Sturgeon Lake, Minn. was a perfect 5-5 from the floor, scoring a team-high ten points.  The Yellowjackets came out hit and built a lead early, going ahead 13-3 before the game was six minutes old.  Five different players had points in that stretch.  The Blue Devils trimmed the lead to four at 13-9 with 11:33 left in the half before the Yellowjackets exploded and put the game out of reach.  A 13-0 run over the next four minutes gave the Yellowjackets a healthy lead at 26-9, before the Blue Devils stopped the bleeding on a Whitney Rawdon that didn't just put them back on the board, but also put the team in double digits for the game.  From there the Yellowjackets continued to apply pressure on defense, forcing turnovers and bad shots from the Blue Devils, and continued to build the lead.  Keely Deadrick (Esko, Minn./Esko) hit a three-pointer with just over five minutes to go to send the Yellowjackets over 30 points in the half, staking them to a 31-17 lead.  The teams would trade buckets the rest of the half, and the Yellowjackets would take a 39-24 lead into the locker room.

Early in the second half, the Yellowjackets would see the lead jump over the 20-point mark on an exchange where team defense stole the show.  Up 43-28, Connie Urmanski (Edgar, Wis./Edgar) hit a jump shot to make the lead 17.  On the ensuing trip down the court, Sally Linzmeier (Valders, Wis./Valders) stole the ball and went in uncontested for the layup.  Second later, another steal by Linzmeier resulted in another easy layup, this time by Urmanski, giving the Yellowjackets six points in 11 seconds and a 49-28 lead.  The exchange was the early part of an 18-6 run to start the half, and the Yellowjackets built the lead to as many as 30 points, leading 77-47 with about five minutes to play.  From there, the Yellowjackets kept their collective foot on the pedal, cruising to a big home win.

Urmanski and Hailey Hart (Osseo, Wis./Osseo-Fairchild) led the way for the Yellowjackets with 15 points apiece, while Peterson dropped in 13 points.  Hart had a team-high six rebounds, while Urmanski and Kailee McDonald (Cambridge, Minn./Cambridge-Isanti) each had four assists.  Peterson had five blocks, one shy of the team record.  Linzmeier had seven steals, three shy of tying the team record.

Rachel Hanley and Shelby Sterba had 11 points apiece to pace the Blue Devils.

Milestone Watch: Hailey Hart now has 857 points in her Yellowjacket career, good for 12th place on the all-time scoring list.  Next up is Lindsey Anderson, who is in 11th place with 881 points.  Hart also has 490 rebounds and is seven away from moving into sole possession of ninth place on the all-time list.  Pam Papenfuss currently occupies that spot with 496.

The Yellowjackets (4-3, 1-1 WIAC) will play at UW-La Crosse on Saturday, December 10.  Tip-off is scheduled for 3:00 p.m.