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DULUTH, Minn. – The St. Scholastica women's basketball team built a 13-point halftime lead and did enough in the second half to defeat Northland College 61-57 to open Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC) action on Tuesday evening at Reif Gymnasium.

Erin Frase (Phillips, Wis./Phillips HS (UW-River Falls)) and Mariah Hovick (Prior Lake, Minn./Prior Lake HS) scored the first four points of the game to put the Saints up 4-0. The LumberJills responded with an 8-0 run. Over the next 10 minutes there would be three ties and three lead changes as Northland's Maria Mackey drained a 3-pointer to tie the game at 23-23 with four minutes left in the half.

Those would be the final points of the first half for Northland as Hovick and Haley Hoyer (Pelican Rapids, Minn./Pelican Rapids HS (North Dakota State College of Science)) combined to score 11 of next 13 Saints points to make the halftime score 36-23 CSS. St. Scholastica finished the first half, making six of their final seven field goals.

The Saints shot 47-percent from the field in the first 20 minutes, including 4-for-7 from beyond the arc. Kayla Heisler (Remer, Minn./Northland HS) was 3-for-5 on 3-point attempts. The 'Jills shot 39-percent from the field. CSS had an 18-8 advantage in points off turnovers in the half.

With the Saints still holding a 13-point lead with 12 minutes left in the game, the 'Jills got a big five-point possession to get back into the game. A little bit later, Northland went on an 8-0 run due in large part to free throws and cut the CSS lead to four with seven minutes left.

A Frase layup built the Saints lead back to 10 with three minutes to go, but it was another 8-0 run by the LumberJills that made it a two-point game with 30 seconds to play. Heisler was fouled with 15 seconds to go and made two big free throws to make it a two possession game. Northland was unable to score in the final 15 seconds as the Saints held on for the 61-57 victory.

St. Scholastica was held to 35-percent shooting in the second half to finish at 41-percent for the game. The Saints were 9-for-11 from the free throw line and out-rebounded the 'Jills 35-32. The CSS bench outscored the Northland bench 20-2. The LumberJills shot 37-percent for the game.

Hovick, Heisler and Laura Amys (South Range, Wis./Superior HS) each led the Saints with 11 points. Amys scored nine of her 11 points in the second half. Hovick also led the team with seven rebounds, four assists and three steals. Maria Mackey had a game-high 19 points to pace the LumberJills (4-7, 0-1 UMAC).

The Saints (3-9, 1-0 UMAC) go on the road for conference play this weekend as they will face Bethany Lutheran College on Friday night and Martin Luther College on Saturday. Friday's game at Bethany Lutheran is scheduled to begin at 5:30 p.m.