SPORTS
Comeback falls short as Badgers blow early lead
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Also by Jonah Braun:
- Knight leaves Tech, legacy stays (February 7, 2008)
- Senior powers Badgers (February 5, 2008)
- This week in college, losers win (January 31, 2008)
- Badgers face Hoosiers, trying to extend win streak (January 31, 2008)
- Senior guard Banks provides vocal leadership (January 28, 2008)
Related Stories:
- Aggressive defense still lets OSU prevail (February 11, 2008)
- Senior powers Badgers (February 5, 2008)
- Unhappy birthday for Kohl Center (January 18, 2008)
- Senior guard Banks provides vocal leadership (January 28, 2008)
by Jonah Braun
Monday, February 11, 2008
In a critical game for the Badgers’ NCAA Tournament hopes,
the Wisconsin women’s basketball team fell to No. 19 Ohio State 80-77 Sunday.
Despite coming off a big win at Penn State Feb. 3, the Badgers
couldn’t handle the post presence of Jantel Lavender, as the Buckeyes beat
Wisconsin on its home court in comeback fashion.
Senior Jolene Anderson failed to hit a game-tying 3-pointer
with time expiring to push the game into overtime, resulting in Wisconsin’s eighth
Big Ten loss of the season.
UW started off the game on a strong note, jumping out to a
21-10 lead, relying on senior guard Janese Banks’ 3-point shooting. Wisconsin
looked to be in control of the game when Banks hit a 3-pointer as the first
half clock expired, heading into the locker room with 18 points.
“She was unconscious,” Ohio State head coach Jim Foster said
of Banks. “She felt that anything she touched was going to go in, and
compounded by the fact that we had a couple of defenders standing there
watching.”
In the first half, the Badgers had eight total steals and
only five turnovers. The Buckeyes, on the other hand, committed 12 turnovers,
allowing the Badgers to accumulate 14 first-half points off Ohio State miscues.
At the end of the first half, the Badgers led 42-31 and were playing with all
the momentum.
The second half, however, was a different story. Wisconsin
once again came out strong, but this time the Buckeyes fought back with more
intensity. In the first 10 minutes of the second half, Ohio State shut down the
Badgers, allowing them to make only four field goals and causing them to force
bad shots.
“I don’t we think we liked who we were in the first half,
and I think to their credit they stepped up,” Foster said. “I thought we had
terrific senior leadership, and I thought Jantel decided that she was going to
really go after the ball aggressively. I think both of those things helped us
immensely.”
The Buckeyes wiped away the 11-point deficit and outscored
the Badgers 19-10 to gain a 10-point lead with 10:01 remaining in the game.
During that time, Ohio State relied on Lavender’s post play, which dominated
the Badgers in the second half.
“I don’t know if our energy totally disappeared — I mean we
were still talking,” Banks said. “We just didn’t make good decisions so I think
that … people were getting a little tense.”
After the 10-minute drought, the Badgers cut the lead to
four points with 6:12 remaining.
“I am very proud of our team,” UW head coach Lisa Stone
said. “We dug down and went with a small lineup at the end just to try and get
some things going and attack the basket, and we would have done things the same
way.”
The smaller lineup worked well for the Badgers, who
eventually cut the Buckeye lead to only one point with 16 seconds left in the
game. After Buckeye guard Shavelle Little hit two free throws with 15 seconds
remaining, the stage was set for Anderson’s final shot.
With the clock winding down, Anderson looked for an opening,
but forced an off-balanced 3-pointer. Luckily, freshman guard Alyssa Karel
grabbed the rebound and passed it back to Anderson, who this time had an open
look. But her shot went off the back iron as time expired.
“I should’ve made at least one of them,” Anderson said. “I
think one of them should’ve went in, but it didn’t, so we just gotta move on. I
had two great looks, and I just should have made it. That’s what it comes down
to.”
Banks and Anderson finished with 22 and 20 points for the
Badgers, respectively, but were unsuccessful in rallying the team to a victory
over the Buckeyes.
Despite the heartbreaking loss, Stone’s team will look to
continue to improve and take the positives away from its loss against Ohio
State.
Anonymous (February 11, 2008 @ 11:24am):
Wisconsin is poorly coached. They seldom get the ball into their posts. Collectively their posts shoot 50%. Jolene always scores her points, but 5-17 doesn't cut it. They are playing feshman pg too much divided 50-50 with Lin. They need veteran leadership in these games and the freshmen still have a lot to learn. They should learn from the mens team. Balanced scoring and passing is the key. Jolene missed her last four shots yesterday and was probably result of being tired after playing 37.5 minutes. Teah Gant scored 9 points in 12 minutes and is a spark on defense. She should be playing more minutes and giving Jolene some needed rest during the games. Dunham, Heins, Caitlin are odd women out in favor of the freshmen. This is not a rebuilding year Lisa...time for the veterans to step up and I don't mean Jolene and Janese...they already shoot too much. try balance and defense and team play. Few teams have ever won championships with glorification of star players. Need to get more players involved in the offense and passing into the post.
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