The 79-61 final score doesn’t show how competitive the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s win over Georgetown was on Tuesday. There were eight lead changes in the first three quarters and the difference did not grow larger than five until the Badgers pulled away in the fourth quarter.
Wisconsin was fueled by its control of the painted area, outscoring the Hoyas 40-16 in the paint and winning the rebound battle 40-33.
Serah Williams and Carter McCray formed an unstoppable battery in the frontcourt, and they became the first pair of Wisconsin players to tally double-doubles in the same game since 2019. McCray’s prowess on the offensive glass turned the tide deep in the third quarter.
The Badgers trailed 40-49 with 2:30 left in the period but got a jolt of momentum when McCray put back her own missed free throw and then rebounded a missed three-pointer by Tess Myers and scored an and-one. The Kohl Center grew louder with each offensive rebound before erupting when Ronnie Porter finished off the 7-0 run with a buzzer-beating floater in the lane. The score was one of Porter’s two buzzer-beaters of the day as she tallied a career-high 26 points.
Already ahead by four, Wisconsin carried its momentum into the fourth quarter and quickly pushed the advantage into double figures, where it would remain until the final buzzer. McCray and Williams combined for 22 points and 17 rebounds in the second half. Williams totaled 17 points, 16 rebounds, four assists and three blocks, while McCray finished with 11 points and 11 rebounds (seven offensive).
It wasn’t always easy for McCray, a sophomore transfer from Northern Kentucky. She went 0-for-4 from the field in the first half and missed multiple looks at the basket. With some perseverance and a strong message from Coach Moseley, McCray was able to right the ship and step up when it mattered.
“I told her ‘you’re a bad you-know-what’,” Moseley said postgame regarding McCray’s early struggles. “Just go out there and play your game.”
With how physical the Hoyas played early, it was only a matter of time before the Badgers’ size and depth wore Georgetown down.
Moseley identified the Hoyas’ weakness and implored her team to act on it.
“I saw them on the ropes,” Moseley said. “I’m like, ‘right now we gotta go’.”
Though the box score won’t show it, Halle Douglass’ (two points, two rebounds and two assists across 27 minutes) fingerprints were all over the Badgers’ second-half success. She was tasked with slowing down Kelsey Ransom, a pre-season All-Big East honoree, after Ransom dropped 13 points on 6-of-9 shooting in the first half. Douglass’ height advantage made it difficult for Ransom to elevate on jump shots and allowed less separation. Ransom still scored 14 second-half points, but she shot just 4-for-12 from the field.
Myers remained hot from the three-point range, knocking down four of her nine attempts from distance after sinking three of her five attempts in the series opener. Last year, the Badgers didn’t have a player make three or more three-pointers in 16 of their 28 regular-season games.
She has headlined Wisconsin’s effort to become more of a threat from range. The team has combined to shoot 18-for-46 (39.1%) across two regular-season games after shooting 28.3 percent from three-point land a season ago.
Now 2-0, the Badgers will hit the road to face South Dakota State on Wednesday, a team they defeated 66-64 in the Kohl Center during the 2023-24 season.
