SPORTS
Purdue downs Wisconsin
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Also by Adam Schense:
- Welton embracing roll as defensive stopper (March 1, 2006)
- Wisconsin suffers losses to Marquette, Notre Dame (December 5, 2005)
- After an aggressive weekend, Wisconsin readies for more (December 6, 2005)
- Rally falls short as Stone's squad stumbles against SDSU (December 9, 2005)
- Wisconsin looks to end skid against UW-Milwaukee (December 14, 2005)
Related Stories:
- Badgers look to carry momentum from Gopher upset (February 21, 2006)
- Stone still searching for right combination (February 4, 2004)
- Women's basketball team hopes for late push (January 31, 2006)
- UW looks for seniors to lead way (February 8, 2006)
- Wilson scores career high in win (February 23, 2004)
by Adam Schense
Monday, February 27, 2006
The Badger women's basketball team lost another heartbreaker — this time to Purdue — at the Kohl Center.
All four Wisconsin seniors, including Kjersten Bakke, Ashley Josephson, Annie Nelson and Jordan Wilson, got to start the game, but they came up just short in the end against the No. 11-ranked Boilermakers 66-63 during Senior Night.
The Badgers held the lead for much of the second half, but Purdue was the team that made the big shots and defensive stands late in the game to come away with the win.
"It's about making plays down the stretch. One word — it's just resiliency down the stretch by us, and I'm really proud of them," Purdue head coach Kristy Curry said.
Purdue had nothing to play for but a boost in their confidence after they lost their showdown for the conference title against Ohio State last Thursday. But it was the Boilermakers who looked like they wanted it more, as junior guard Katie Gearlds hit a long jumper to break a 61-61 tie with just more than a minute to play. Gearlds led the Boilermakers with 19 points, including four 3-pointers, and was one of four Purdue players in double figures.
Wisconsin's Janese Banks tried to answer, but was blocked; Purdue guard Sharika Webb then made a lay-up and was fouled for a three-point play, which put Purdue up five.
After a basket by Banks, Purdue had a chance to seal the game, but missed two free throws with eight seconds to go. However, Banks missed a 3-point try that would have sent the game to overtime as time expired.
"[It was a] good effort by our team once again, a valiant defensive effort. [We were] great on the glass, which was something that was stressed," said UW head coach Lisa Stone, whose Badgers lost both contests to Purdue on the year. "But we just came up short, and I thought we had a good look at it at the end to put it into overtime. Had that happened, I think the crowd would have gone nuts, and it would have been a whole different game.
"They're solid and they have people that can score. I thought that Katie Gearlds' jumper over some tight defense … that was a big shot and a back-breaker for us."
Leading scorer Jolene Anderson had an excellent shooting day for Wisconsin, hitting 9-of-17 shots en route to a game-high 26 points. Anderson fell just one rebound short of a double-double and finished the season in double figures in every game this season.
"We tried to keep the ball out of her hands and force her left because she likes to drive right," Webb said. "We were trying to limit her touches, but she's really good."
But once again, it was the Badgers falling just short, as they have struggled to come away with victories in the close games.
"It is unfortunate for our seniors that we couldn't pull this one off, but, again, a great effort," Stone said. "We just had some trouble scoring inside. If points in the paint were even, then we would have been OK, but that is a great credit to Purdue.
"I thought we had some good looks inside, and I thought Caitlin Gibson did a nice job for us, but we needed a little more balance offensively," Stone continued. "Their defense is long, and our defense matched with them. It's just tough that we came up short."
For the seniors, it is a disappointing end to the season, but there is still a chance for them to end on a happy note if they can muster a run in postseason conference play.
"We're not done yet. We have some damage to do in the Big Ten tournament, and those four are going to lead the way," Stone said, referring to her seniors.
Purdue finishes its conference season 13-3 and will now be the No. 2 seed in the tournament, which will take place in Indianapolis starting this Thursday.
Wisconsin, meanwhile, will settle for the No. 9 seed in the Big Ten and faces the eight-seeded Penn State team that they defeated at the Kohl Center Feb. 16.
Doug Williams (February 27, 2006 @ 11:38am):
Game was same-old, same-old. Badgers forgot how they won their last two games...with balance and team ball. During the last 7-8 minutes it became the Jolene/Janese show and rarely did anyone else shoot the ball and few others touched the ball. There was not a single pass into the post nor was there any post player taking a single shot attempt during the last 7 minutes of the game.
Having two players play against five on offense is what it appeared. Each one trying to outdo the other. Too much dribbling by Janese Banks and not enough passing. Her 3-pt shooting percentage for Big-10 play is a whopping .172, so why did she take the last shot when a 3 was needed for ot??? Good pg's will distribute...there was a wide-open Christine Spensor who Janese did not even look at who was wide-open and standing all alone at perimeter waiting for the pass that never came.
Purdue had two players in game with 10 minutes left with 4 fouls and Badgers were already in double-bonus. That was the time to go after their posts relentlessly with passes into posts. Badger post players appeared as non-entities to the guards and Badgers lost opportunity to take it to these two key Purdue players with 4 fouls and advantage of double bonus was never realized.
Badger defense was superb. They should have won this game but failed. Team ball wins games.Badgers needed to pass more and dribble less and lack of outside/inside game is obvious. Guards simply do not know how to pass inside.
The game was very entertaining until the end. Badgers have alot of talent and heart but need offense to play as a team if they are ever to advance program to next level.
