A trip to Rochester ended Riverland's nine-game losing streak as the Lady Blue Devils basketball team took a 76-72 MCCC South Division victory from the host Yellowjackets Saturday afternoon.

Riverland's roster of seven kept from turning the ball over against Rochester's persistent full-court press. The Blue Devils broke down the Yellowjackets and converted with transition baskets in their first win since mid-December. Riverland (3-13, 1-4) also picked up its first division win in the process.

"We kept a lead for quite a while," said Riverland coach Suzy Hebrink. "It was good for the girls. We had a lot of leads in games this year, we just haven't been able to keep them."

Riverland led most of the way until Rochester made a comeback for its first, last and only lead of the game with 2:30 to play. The Blue Devils, who have lost a number of games they led in the second half, held their composure and came away with their third win of the season.

"It was a good team win," Hebrink said. "Everybody played good defense."

And freshman Hannah Tvedt broke out of her own scoring slump, leading the way with 20 points. She was one of five Riverland players to score in double-digits. The Blue Devils have had five players in double figures scoring only three times this season — in all three wins.

Becky Herrmann continued to contribute offensively with a career-high 14 points. Steph Vollbrecht and Bridget Burzinski each added 10 points.

Leading scorer Jenny Schnaufer played only five minutes of the first half because of foul trouble, which seemed abundant for the Blue Devils' roster of seven. Rochester shot 21 free-throws in each half.

Riverland hosts Minneapolis on Wednesday night in Austin at 6 p.m. Two of the Devils' three wins were at home back in December.

"In conference we play everybody hard in our own gym," Hebrink said. "We expect to definitely be in that game. We just have to offensively hold it together, the defense is taking care of itself."

Riverland runs out of breath

The Blue Devil men left everything on the court but were unable to bring home their first South Division win Saturday at Rochester. Riverland coach David Lillemon said his team played its best defensive game of the season, but the Devils shot just 33 percent from the field in a 70-61 loss to the host Yellowjackets.

RCTC's 6-5 guard Trey Boyd led all players with 21 points. Riverland (5-12, 0-5) got 16 points from Jeff Roemhildt, 15 more from Andy Stouvenel and 12 out of Calvin Morris in their fifth straight defeat.

Stouvenel had a double-double 10 rebounds.

"It was an unbelievably gutty effort," Lillemon said. "Defensively we were unbelievable, as good as we could get."

The Devils hit just 21 of 63 field-goal attempts, however, in the league loss. Riverland led 27-26 at halftime, but RCTC started the second half with a 7-2 run. The Yellowjackets' lead built up to 39-31 with 16 minutes to play, but the Blue Devils made a run of their own and held a one-point lead with 10:03 remaining.

Rochester (13-4, 5-1) slowly pulled away and the Blue Devils missed their scoring opportunities when they needed them the most. Riverland came up empty on a three-point attempt while facing a five-point deficit with less than three minutes to go, and RCTC took the ball back down and scored to secure its cushion.

Riverland was also playing one man short as freshman Adam Kasper had prior engagements and did not make the trip. Kasper is the South Division's leading free-throw shooter, and his absense left the Devils with just seven players on the roster.

"They tried to up-tempo us, but we did a good job of keeping up," Lillemon said. "I don't know if you ever get used to it, you just have no choice."

Six-foot seven-inch center Mark Skellenger was slowed by an ankle sprain he suffered in practice on Thursday, but he was still able to provide positive minutes.

Riverland hosts league-leading Minneapolis on Wednesday night at 8 p.m.

Notes: Austin High School graduates Tony Ball and Corey Christopherson both play for Rochester Community and Technical College. Ball scored eight points and Christopherson five in the Yellowjackets' victory. Both were teammates with Riverland's Kasper on last year's Austin Packers boys' basketball squad. The trio of former teammates will get another opportunity to reunite on the court when Rochester plays at Riverland on Wednesday, Feb. 19, at 8 p.m.

Boxscore:

RIVERLAND (61) -- Mark Skellenger 2, Curt Peterson 5, Andy Stouvenel 15, Kelly Connaughty 3, Calvin Morris 12, Jeff Roemhildt 16, John Tillo 8.

ROCHESTER (70) -- Tony Ball 8, Luke Middendorf 5, Corey Christopherson 5, Bryce Hall 4, Rob Giles 12, Trey Boyd 21, Xavier Jones 6, John Freeman 9, Chris Metcalf 5.