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Despite a quick offensive start, the visiting UW-Green Bay Phoenix could not capitalize on their possessions, ultimately falling to the quicker and deeper Wisconsin Badger team Tuesday night.

UW's in-state rivalry record improved to 2-1 as the Badgers (6-3) beat the visiting Phoenix  81-58. Wisconsin’s size advantage, along with a balanced scoring attack from the Badgers starting five proved too much for the Phoenix (4-3) late in the first half.

Three minutes into the game, the Phoenix were within five points, providing a temporary scare for the Badgers. As the half wore on, however, Wisconsin continued to hit shots and UWGB faltered, failing to hit a field goal for almost nine minutes and relying solely on free throws for points.

The Phoenix were successful from the stripe, ending the game 22-of-26 (85 percent) on free throws. That stood in stark contrast to Wisconsin, which shot a terrible 38 percent (8-of-21), leaving 13 points at the stripe.

Despite that poor shooting, UW head coach Lisa Stone seemed relatively unconcerned about one of the only flaws in her team's game Tuesday.

"We got to the line like we wanted to we just couldn't capitalize," Stone said. "We will go right back to work again, we shoot [free throws] a lot. I have no explanation for it, I just know we'll be better at the free-throw line on Friday."

Despite a late run, Wisconsin only led 41-30 at the half. Defensively, the Badgers were able to force 16 turnovers before the break and 23 on the game, a season high forced by the Badgers.

"The start of the game, we didn't have that confidence, that bounce, that we normally have," UWGB head coach Matt Bollant said. "Lack of confidence and poor decision-making caused us to never get any kind of offense or flow [regarding] taking care of the ball."

Wisconsin cashed in for 15 points off those 16 first half turnovers and posted an overall defensive front Stone wants her team to take pride in.

"I don't want my defense to ever look like a piece of Swiss chess, with holes in it," Stone said. "This type of team, as well as the team coming in on Friday (South Dakota State), they drive, draw and dish, that's what they do. I thought we did a much better job [Tuesday] on our on-ball defense."

To start the second half, the Badgers went on a quick four-point run to increase the lead to 15.

Until the second half, UW had grabbed fewer rebounds than the smaller UWGB lineup, resulting in easy put back points for the Phoenix. A second half switch-up ensued, and the Badgers regained the rebounding edge. Wisconsin finished the game with 12 more boards than UW-Green Bay, out-rebounding its opponent for the eighth time in nine games.

Without the point-blank layups to pad their score, the Phoenix struggled to get any offensive flow going. Prior to Tuesday's game, UWGB averaged four scorers in double figures. Against Wisconsin, only UWGB guard Kayla Groh scored more than 10 points.

Stone believes good offense comes from solid defense.

"That's when we're at our best, out best offense is our best defense," Stone said. "[Tuesday] was a really good sign of what I'm looking for — finishing off the nonconference season this week and winning the Big Ten. … That's exactly what I'm looking for."

With a comfortable lead and the clock ticking down, an unforced turnover troubled Coach Stone, causing her to call a timeout.

"We threw the ball out of bounds, an unforced error, and I've seen too many of them this year [and] that it's time for us to play with a little more precision," Stone said. "I recognized my team, and I saw that little spot in there that I wanted us to execute, I want us to work the ball, and I want our team to reduce our unforced errors."

With one game to go in the five-game home streak, the Badgers are 4-0 in that stretch and 4-1 overall at the Kohl Center, with only South Dakota State left before the Big Ten conference season gets underway on the road at Purdue.