For the second-straight year, the Wisconsin women’s basketball team tipped off its season against Northern Illinois. Once again, as the buzzer sounded, the scoreboard showed the same outcome, as Northern Illinois was able to hang on to beat Wisconsin 68-65 Sunday afternoon at the Kohl Center. It was a heartbreaking loss for the Badgers, who were hoping to put last year’s 7-21 season behind them and give Badger Coach Lisa Stone her first win in her UW debut.
“It was a tough loss,” Stone said. “I don’t like to lose, and I don’t want to get used to it. We’re going to learn how to win and take the good from this game and take what didn’t end up going our way and improve on it.”
The Huskies won last year’s matchup on a game-winner by guard Monique Davis 49-47. Davis set the tone for her team early on Sunday by draining a three pointer with two seconds left on the shot clock on the opening possession. Then, moments later as the shot clock wound down, Davis hit a driving layup and was fouled to put the Huskies up 8-4 with 17:44 left in the first half. The Badgers responded by taking the ball to the hoop and drawing four fouls within the first four minutes of the first half.
It was a game of runs, especially in the first half, as Northern Illinois built a 23-16 lead with 7:57 left and threatened to blow the game open. Freshman center Kristin Wiener, who only played eight minutes in Northern Illinois’s 77-60 win over Loyola (Ill.) Friday night, came off the bench to scorch the Badger defense for 11 points. The Badgers once again came back with consecutive buckets by Ebba Gebisa and a three pointer by guard Stephanie Rich to keep the Badgers close. The teams traded baskets the rest of the half and went into the locker room with the score knotted at 27.
Wisconsin began the second half cold from the floor, and Northern Illinois took advantage by building a 49-37 lead with 9:24 left in the game. The Badgers found themselves within six after back-to-back three pointers by Ashley Josephson; however, Northern Illinois always found an answer when the Badgers threatened. It wasn’t Wiener who would give the Badgers headaches in the second half; it was the three-point shooting of guard Lindsay Secrest. Secrest hit back-to-back threes following a timeout to push the Huskies’ lead back to ten at 55-45.
The Badgers would not fall without a fight, as Josephson nailed another one of her three-point bombs and added a jumper to put the Badgers within three at 61-58 with 2:25 remaining. That was the closest the Badgers would get. Secrest would cool off from long range, but Davis picked up the slack by hitting pivotal baskets in the face of the Badgers defense and by finding her teammates for the open layup. Davis denied the Badgers’ hopes of a comeback by hitting three of four from the free-throw line in the final two minutes.
Davis finished with a game-high 20 points for the Huskies, while Secrest added 16, including four of seven from behind the arch. Freshman Wiener pitched in 11 points, all in the first half. The Badgers had three players in double figures, as sophomore Ashley Josephson finished with 16 points — one shy of tying her career high. Josephson also hit three for four from the three-point line. Stephanie Rich also added 16 points, shooting 5 for 19. Emily Ashbaugh rounded out the double-figure scoring with 15.
In the loss Wisconsin still garnered praise from both coaches.
“I think Wisconsin’s got an awesome team,” Northern Illinois coach Carol Hammerle said. “We just worked really hard tonight to try and get the ball out of the paint, and I think we did a good job.”
“When you debut you want to demonstrate to these fans the great work ethic of our players,” Stone said. “I think they certainly did that effort-wise. It’s just real unfortunate that we didn’t come away with a ‘W’, but this has to make us tougher, make us stronger. We’ll go from here.”
