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Despite their poor record in the Big Ten, the Wisconsin
women?s basketball team came through with a big win over Penn State Thursday,
blowing out the Lady Lions 72-52 for their 100th win
at the Kohl Center.

After losing six out of their first seven conference games,
the Badgers dominated from the start, running the fast break and capitalizing
on several Lady Lion errors. Penn State made mental mistakes and allowed Wisconsin
to score on second-chance opportunities.

?I thought we were pretty awful from start to finish,? Penn
State head coach Coquese Washington said. ?I didn?t anticipate that we would
come out and play that poorly, but we didn?t really get after it defensively
like we needed to, and we had some early turnovers. ? Coming out and being able
to get easy buckets in transition gave them a lot of confidence and really
opened things up for them.?

Wisconsin jumped out to a 20-8 lead in the first half,
displaying impressive defense on every possession. After extending their lead
to 17 points at halftime, the Badgers went on a roll, continuing to shut down
the Lady Lions for the second half even more effectively than in the first.

Wisconsin held Penn State to a mere 26.9 percent from the
field and only 19 points in the first half. The Badgers also out-rebounded Penn
State by 10 and shot 43 percent from the field and an impressive 38.5 percent
from behind the three-point arch.

?It came off of our defense,? Wisconsin head coach Lisa
Stone said. ?It puts us in a position where we can shoot a pretty high
percentage and make lay-ups. But that came off of some good pressure defense. ?
We just put some things together defensively that allowed us to get into the
transition and the fast break.?

The Badgers had four scorers in double figures, displaying
some aspects of their strong play and balanced scoring attack from earlier in
the season. The trio of freshman Lin Zastrow and seniors Janese Banks and Jolene
Anderson led the team with 16 points.

?I?m so proud of the kids,? Stone said. ?They really hung in
there. It?s been a tough go of it, and we?ve stayed resilient. We?ve stayed
strong. I told them to play their butts off, and they did it for me. Everybody
contributed.?

Wisconsin also set a school and a Kohl Center record for
least amount of turnovers in a game, amounting to an impressive five turnovers ?
including only turning the ball over once in the first half.

?I didn?t tell them at halftime that we only had one
turnover,? Stone said. ?I didn?t want to jinx ourselves. ? It was pretty
flawless basketball.?

Going into the second half, the Badgers continued with their
all-around strong play, not allowing the Lady Lions to make a run and get back
in the game. The defensive energy was particularly noticeable despite the
Badgers? recent troubles.

?We spent this whole week on defense,? Anderson said. ?If we
didn?t come out with defensive intensity, I don?t want to know what tomorrow
would be like. It?s just a matter of playing defense for 40 minutes. I think we
did a pretty good job at that tonight.?

Wisconsin continued to expand its lead, and the game culminated
with Annie Crangle?s three-pointer with only 11 seconds left, which put the
Badgers ahead by 30 points ? their biggest margin in the game before winning by
27.

Even with the victory, the Badgers know they have a long
road ahead. They currently sit in 10th place in the Big Ten and have
dug themselves into a deep hole.

?Now we just have to focus on Sunday,? Banks said. ?We?ll
enjoy this for the night, but tomorrow we?ll break the film down and start
focusing on Sunday and come out with the same defensive intensity.?

With the win, Wisconsin moves to 2-6 in the Big Ten, and 9-9
overall, moving back to an even record after falling to Ohio State last Sunday.

On Sunday, the Badgers face the last-place
Northwestern Wildcats in an attempt to win consecutive games for the first time
since winning five straight in December.