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Badgers lose nailbiter
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Also by Jonah Braun:
- UW tries to end home stand well (December 11, 2007)
- Balanced scoring attack leads Badgers over Falcons (December 10, 2007)
- Depth evident as entire roster sees action (December 5, 2007)
- Badgers to fight Panthers (December 4, 2007)
- UW nets hoops win (December 3, 2007)
Related Stories:
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- UW prepares to 'Challenge' ACC (November 30, 2007)
- Badgers must regroup, improve (November 27, 2007)
- Wisconsin reaches WNIT's hilltop (March 29, 2007)
by Jonah Braun
Tuesday, November 20, 2007
In a rematch of last year's WNIT Championship, the Badgers fell for the second time to the Wyoming Cowgirls 67-66 in overtime.
While Wisconsin dominated virtually every aspect of the game in the first half, Wyoming, led by senior forward Hanna Zavecz, came storming back in the second half.
"It was going to be one heck of a game," Wyoming head coach Joe Legerski said. "This game was a tremendous effort by both teams. Neither team wanted to give up."
The Badgers led by as many as 13 points in the first half, controlling the game both offensively and defensively. They had given up just 22 points at halftime, forcing 11 Wyoming turnovers.
"I'm really proud of our team's effort, I thought our defense was outstanding in the first half," Wisconsin head coach Lisa Stone said. "We shared the ball really well offensively in the first half; we had the presence we were looking for in the post."
In a surprising move by Stone, Teah Gant started in place of sophomore Mariah Dunham, who scored 13 points against Wyoming in their last meeting. But with size matchups coming into play, Stone went with the smaller Gant.
"Teah was huge for us," Stone said. "I leaned a little bit toward her yesterday and told her to be ready. Defensively she was outstanding, and she made some very tough plays."
After losing to Wyoming by a considerable margin in last year's WNIT match, the Badgers looked as if they were going to pull away after clearly controlling the tempo in the first half. However, the Cowgirls came out with intensity after intermission, cutting the lead to five with 15:26 left in the game, and tying it on forward Justyna Podziemska's 3-pointer with 11:16 left in regulation.
"I thought we came out [of the half] with a great deal of intensity," Legerski said. "I'm very proud of the way our team played."
Center Danielle Ward, who proved to be a spark for the Badgers, picked up her fourth foul with 5:23 left in the contest. Without her inside presence, the Badgers were helpless in defending the paint.
"I really wanted to be out there, and I knew that I had one more foul before I would have to sit for the rest of the game," Ward said. "I had to play carefully and play smart from then on, and I knew the team was counting on me. It was tough to deal with, but I didn't let it get to me."
Soon thereafter, the two teams traded baskets and the lead several times. Following a Wyoming turnover with nine seconds remaining, Wisconsin had a chance to win the game, but Anderson's stumbling jumper did not go in, and the game went into overtime.
In regulation, Anderson led the scoring attack for the Badgers, scoring 22 points to go along with four assists.
After hitting a 3-pointer at the start of overtime, the Badgers seemed to be on a roll, but three clumsy turnovers moved them from the driver's seat to the passenger's. Wisconsin found itself behind one with less than six ticks on the clock.
Taking the ball from the deep end of the court, the Badgers had one chance to win the game, but Janese Banks' pass to Anderson went astray, and the buzzer sounded, signaling the end of the game.
The Cowgirls expected the ball to be in Anderson's hands, but the Badgers just couldn't get it to her. She finished with 25 points.
"We all know about how good Jolene Anderson is," Zavecz said. "She's a great player, and we knew that the ball would be in her hands at that moment of the game."
With Anderson and the Badgers starting off the season 1—2, they hope to rebound against Mississippi, at the Pepperdine tournament in Malibu, California.
"We can't cry about sour milk," Stone said. "There are a lot of things that we did well tonight, and a lot of things that we can do better. We just have to go out there and pick up the pieces."
Despite blowing a first-half lead and stumbling a bit out of the gate, Stone is disregarding any critics of her players and their problems on the court.
"It's Thanksgiving, and there's a lot to be thankful for," Stone said. "We have great kids, and we'll be a better team the next night because we were much different than we were in Milwaukee [against Marquette]. You have to take the positives and move on, and you have to ignore what you hear outside, because what matters is what those kids think."
Anonymous (November 21, 2007 @ 2:28pm):
This was not a surprising move by Stone, if you were to actually cover the team, you would've known she was going to start Gant over Dunham after the Marquette game.
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