No. 5 Whitman Blues (26-1) took on University of Wisconsin-Superior Yellowjackets (17-10) in the first round of the NCAA tournament in Menomonie, WI at 2:45p.m. Friday afternoon. Whitman was coming off of an incredible 18 game win-streak and their Northwest Conference Championship going into today’s game. The University of Wisconsin-Superior came in after winning the Upper Midwest Athletic Conference Championship.
Wisconsin-Superior, just like Whitman, saw tough competition in their lead up to the NCAA tournament. Their UMAC tournament semi-final match-up against Martin Luther was sent to overtime before their eventual 80-75 victory and they went into the 4th quarter of the Championship game down by 1 before beating out Northwestern-St. Paul 53-47.
Despite Superior’s recent championship run, No. 5 Whitman were still heavy favorites going into this game and their play on the court resembled that. Whitman played an incredible first quarter and really bought in on the defensive end. They forced Superior into two shot clock violations and made a lot of deflections. Carly Martin scored a lay-up in the last shot of the quarter to bring Whitman into the second quarter winning 20-10.
The rift between Whitman and Superior grew even larger in the second quarter. 3 time NWC Player of the Year Korin Baker showed her prowess and scored through 2 fouls, hitting both free throw attempts following.
“Huge shoutout to the rest of the team, because we definitely foul each other a lot in practice, especially my sister [Emma Baker]. It definitely helps me to be able to finish with that contact,” Korin Baker said.
Whitman continued their heavy defensive pressure, forcing a backcourt violation and winning the turnover battle by the end of the second quarter, forcing 14 from Superior while only giving up 5.
The team shot 62.5% from the field over the course of the first half while shooting 3-7 from 3 point range. Whitman’s bench scoring outnumbered Superior’s 13-5 and Whitman went into the second half with 11 assists compared to Superior’s 1. With a 46-22 lead at half time, it looked like Whitman’s play would see out their competition.
However, that wasn’t the case. Superior came out of half time with renewed energy and fought hard to try and get back into the game to avoid elimination. Superior’s Chloe Peterson scored 10 straight points for the Yellowjackets, giving Superior a spark offensively to challenge Whitman’s dominance. NWC Defensive Player of the Year Natalie Lundberg found herself in foul trouble after picking up her third personal foul with 17 minutes left to go in the game. Superior went on a 15-7 run in the first five and half minutes of the quarter, dwindling Whitman’s lead from 24 to 16. Despite their slow start, Whitman stopped the bleeding with a 7-4 run to end the quarter, giving them a foothold in the game again and allowing them to go into the fourth quarter up 60-41 after reestablishing their control on the game.
“I mean, down the stretch of the season we had to play some tough games and tough opponents and it made us better, so we know how to respond to a run,” said NWC Coach of the Year Michelle Ferenz.
The fourth quarter went by without much drama. Whitman continued to build on their lead, eventually leading 70-43 before subbing out their starters with two and a half minutes remaining. The game finished 77-54 in favor of the Blues behind leading scorer senior forward Korin Baker, who had a double double with 25 points and 12 rebounds. Sophomore forward Briana Andrade scored 11 points and grabbed 5 rebounds in 18 minutes off the bench and Carly Martin scored 11 points and dished 5 assists to round out an incredible team victory.
“Im proud of them. They came out to play and I think it was really just relaxing and getting into a groove,” said Coach Ferenz. “This has been the goal all year, to get here and to try and make a run for the championship.”
The Blues will now advance to play the hosts University of Wisconsin-Stout (19-7) on Saturday at 7:15 p.m in the round of 32, looking for a victory to take them to the Sweet 16.
Paul Lundberg • Mar 9, 2025 at 11:37 pm
There were several factors that played into this game. Whitman’s two best players were sidelined during critical junctures of the game because of very poor officiating. Our all-conference player Carly Martin only got 14 minutes and it was truly based on two very poor calls. That’s not sour grapes, that’s just what sometimes happens when referees are conditioned to make calls on one team they haven’t refereed before and one they are accustomed to officiating. It’s one of several reasons home court advantage is so important. Secondly, it was a major disservice to allow Stout to host and not Whitman and there really isn’t an argument otherwise. The NCAA can make apologies and financial excuses but it still wasn’t justifiable, it was just a poorly initiated tournament decision that wasn’t fair. To Stouts credit, they converted 25 of 26 free throws while Whitman got to the charity strip 8 times. That disparity was more influenced by poor officiating than by a difference in style of play. It’s unfortunate because the better team lost and credit to Stout for hanging in there. They’re very gritty and well coached. They took advantage of some unfortunate mistakes by the NCAA and the officials and they and Whitman had no control over either.