Yellowjackets 81, Bethany Lutheran 67
Box Score

In a contest defined by copious turnovers and personal fouls, the University of Wisconsin-Superior women's basketball squad was able to fight through the start-and-stop second half action to earn an 81-67 victory over Bethany Lutheran College on Friday (Dec. 30).

UWS improves to 7-5 after their final non-conference tilt of 2011 while Bethany Lutheran falls to 1-8 on the 2011-12 campaign.

The Yellowjackets did not suffer from a lack of accuracy from the field as they shot 51.9 percent through the course of the game while holding the Vikings to a paltry 33.8 mark from the floor.

Sally Linzmeier (Valders, Wis./Valders) terrorized the Vikings' passing lanes all game long, as the freshman netted a game-high 17 points which included eight fast break points.

"Our upper classmen leaders stepped up and played to the level that we expected them to at the beginning of the second half," said head coach Don Mulhern. "They bore down showed great intensity and took care of business. Our press bothered them and our defense created a lot of offense."

The first four minutes of the second half was extremely disjointed, with the teams combining for 14 fouls during that span. Fortunately, the Yellowjackets thrived from the charity stripe with a 20-for-22 mark. The 20 free throws made was a season-high for UWS.

The lead would bulge to as many as thirty points for the home squad before Mulhern called on his bench to finish the game. UWS forced 28 turnovers by the Vikings, but was also plagued by turnover problems of its own, coughing up the ball 30 times.  

We need to generate experience in terms of getting used to playing at a college level so you're not as nervous," said Mulhern of his bench. "We need to take care of detail enough to work on the basic skills of passing and ball handling."

The Yellowjackets are off until Wednesday (Jan. 4) when they make the trip to Oshkosh, Wis., to face off against UW-Oshkosh to return to WIAC action. The Titans and Yellowjackets will get underway at 3 p.m.