Any worries of a letdown against a lesser-caliber team were quickly muscled aside, literally, as the Wisconsin Badgers’ women’s basketball team used dominance in the paint and a tenacious defense to blow out Cleveland State by a score of 97-55 Tuesday night at the Kohl Center.
The tone was set four seconds into the game when Jessie Stomski converted an easy lay-up after a nice pass by Tamara Moore right off of the opening tip-off. Stomski scored 10 of UW’s first 14 points en route to scoring a game-high 27 points, also a season-high for Stomski.
The Badgers also used a pressing defense in the first half, forcing turnovers on the Vikings’ first three possessions and 18 for the half. For the game, Moore notched five steals, while junior guard Candas Smith and freshman forward Ebba Gebisa grabbed four apiece.
“We wanted to work on things that we’re going to use for tougher games, like traps on the ball and our press, because we really want to use that down the stretch,” Moore said. “We didn’t try to force anything; we just kind of used [the game] as a chance to practice some stuff that’s really shaky for us, but it was a good win and I’m glad we’re 3-1 right now.”
Wisconsin used a 21-6 spurt over a period of 7:47 in the middle of the first half to turn a 16-10 UW lead into a 37-16 UW lead from which Cleveland State would never recover.
While turnovers and a run-and-gun offense, punctuated by sensational passing, sparked the Badgers to many easy baskets and 51.4 percent shooting, they struggled from the outside, particularly from the three-point range, where they hit on just 27.8 percent of their shots on the game.
In fact, the Badgers didn’t get their first points from outside the paint until freshman guard Stephanie Rich nailed a three-pointer at 10:39 into the game.
However, upon outscoring the Vikings 60-20 in the paint for the game, outside shooting was not a high priority for the Badgers.
Any thoughts of a second-half run for Cleveland State were quickly put away by Moore and Smith. Moore converted a three-point play after a nice steal in the first minute of the half, then added two more fast break lay-ups on beautiful passes on Smith, one off of a steal by Smith.
“I thought Candas and Tamara had really nice defensive efforts to begin the second half,” UW head coach Jane Albright said. “They’re really fast and they can cover a lot of ground. We got a lot of transition buckets those first five minutes.”
Wisconsin also improved on its rebounding, which has been dismal at times this season, out-rebounding the Vikings 50-31, including a 24-7 advantage in second-chance points.
Cleveland State’s leading scorer, Erika Roudebush, was held to just eight points on 3-12 shooting. She was guarded by Kyle Black for most of the game, who scored just two points but had a great game on the defensive end.
“[Wisconsin] did exactly what I would do,” Cleveland State head coach Duffy Burns said. “I would put my best defender on [Roudebush] and make her work for every shot she gets.”
Moore scored 22 points for the Badgers, adding six assists and five steals, while junior guard Leah Hefte and Rich each added eight points. Albright was able to clear out her bench, as every suited-up player saw playing time with the large lead. Other players were able to get chances to showcase their skills.
One of those players was senior center Sarah Jirovec, who far exceeded her career-high by scoring 14 points.
Cleveland State’s leading scorer and rebounder was Tonya Crum, with 12 and four respectively. Crum hails from Lodi, Wis., so the game was a sort of homecoming for her.
