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UW-Superior too much for Finlandia women

Finlandia University guard Molly Berg looks for an opening in Monday's game versus UW-Superior. Jade Tucker of UW-Superior defends.The visiting Yellow Jackets scored an 86-70 win at Paavo Nurmi Gym. (Paul Peterson photo)

HANCOCK — Defeating the second-place team in the Upper Midwest Athletic Conference is one thing.

Beating the No. 1 team, UW-Superior, is another.

The Finlandia women’s basketball team found that out Monday night at Paavo Nurmi Gym, dropping an 86-70 decision.

FU, which had upset St. Scholastica last Saturday, couldn’t duplicate that result on Monday.

“They (Yellow Jackets) had won 40 UMAC games in a row,” Lions’ coach John Motherwell said. “So, obviously they’re the top team in that conference.”

But the Blue and White managed to hang around a good part of the first two quarters and even led by as many as eight points in the first period.

“I was proud of our effort,” Motherwell said. ‘We had some makeable shots, and we might have been able to keep pace if we had hit some of those.”

The Wisconsin team used its size edge in height to pull away, notably 6-foot all-league center Hannah Norlin.

“We couldn’t contain her once she got the ball inside,” Motherwell said. “That was a big difference.”

Kelsie Richards did her best in the opening half to keep the Lions within range. The former Houghton High standout scored 12 points in the first two quarters.

With a 45-34 lead at the intermission, the Jackets kept adding on to the lead in the second half.

Finlandia, now 4-13 on the season, fell back by 20 points in the third quarter.

But a 3-pointer by Molly Berg (Hancock) and a basket by Lela Horne got the locals to within 71-58 early in the final quarter.

UW-S scored the game’s next seven points to move away once more.

Richards paced the FU attack with 16 points and four assists, while Lena Horne was close behind with 15 points and seven rebounds. Julia Daavettila added ten points, while Berg chipped in nine points and four assists, and Jaycee Faccio had seven points.

Haley Makela (Jeffers) contributed four points and four rebounds in limited time.

Norlin’s 20 points topped the 12-4 winners, while Eva Reinersten put in 16 more. Justine Larson had 12 and Taylor Kane added 10 points and a game-best 12 boards.

The Lions will travel to Ripon College on Wednesday and host Lawrence University on Jan. 23. Both games were late additions to the schedule.

– – –

UW-SUPERIOR — Leger 5, Larson 12, Kane 10, Tucker 4, Norlin 20, Kontny 10, Ledstrom 1, Reinersten 16, Carpenter 5, Nepstad 3. FT:19-21; Rebounds: 44 (Kane 12); Fouls: 13; Fouled out: None; 3-point FG: Leger 1, Carpenter 1, Reinersten 1.

FINLANDIA — Daavettila 10, Lena Horne 15, Richards 16, Pertile 6, Berg 9, Makela 4, Lola Horne 2, Faccio 7. FT: 10-13; Rebounds: 27 (Le. Horne 7); Fouls: 15; Fouled out: None; 3-point FG: Richards 2, Daavettila 2, Pertile 2, Berg 1, Faccio 1.

Halftime score: UWS 45, Finlandia 34.

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