With 11 minutes left in the UW-Madison women’s basketball game against UW-Milwaukee Tuesday night at the Kohl Center, Badger sharpshooter Kyle Black nailed a three-pointer to give the Badgers a 62-43 that seemingly drove the nail in the coffin.
However, the Panthers had different ideas, especially when UW head coach Jane Albright gave Black, Tamara Moore, and Jessie Stomski rests.
Capitalizing on UW turnovers and fouls, UWM went on a 9-0 run in the next 3:17 to pull within 10 points at 62-52, capped off by a pair of free throws by freshman guard Malika Willoughby.
“Our kids showed a lot of heart and didn’t give up and cut it to 10 with seven minutes left,” UWM head coach Sandy Botham said. “[But we] just didn’t execute down the stretch.”
The reason that UWM was not able to execute down the stretch was perhaps not a fault of their own, but rather the fact that Albright reinserted Wisconsin’s well-rested “big three,” Moore, Black and Stomski, as soon as the Panthers got within ten points.
This immediately paid off as Stomski made a layup, Black drilled a three, and Moore hit two free throws and pulled off a beautiful three-point play, all in the span of 1:56.
This spurt by the three Wisconsin seniors gave the Badgers back their large lead, at 72-57, and they never let the Panthers back in the game on their way to an 80-61 victory.
“It was a little bit stressful,” Stomski said of sitting on the bench while UWM made their comeback bid. “But, really, there’s a lot of people on the floor that also need experience when other teams are making runs and need to know how to maintain that for later in the season.”
While the Badger tri-captains may have put the game on ice, it was some of the younger Badgers who were able to build up UW’s big lead.
Freshman forward Ebba Gebisa scored a career-high 15 points, while also pulling down six rebounds, and freshman guard Stephanie Rich made her second consecutive start, providing 13 strong minutes in the backcourt.
In fact, Albright gave 12 different Badgers playing time, showing her confidence by giving her stars a rest and counting on other players to make plays.
“I’m extremely confident in the effort of these [untested players],” said Albright. “There’s been no day where they haven’t showed effort, and that’s the main thing that I expect from all of them. I was very comfortable with them tonight, and it was good that [these] kids did some good things.”
Albright cited the strong effort of junior forward Kristi Seeger for diving for a loose ball in the second half, an unheralded play that Albright felt sparked the team.
Also, junior guard Leah Hefte showed composure down the stretch, hitting a big three and coming up with a clutch steal.
“It’s very important to have a strong bench,” said Black. “This is the strongest bench we’ve had since I’ve been here. It’s nice because you know that when you come out, you’re going to get a really decent break.”
The Panthers came into the game hoping to beat the Badgers on quickness, according to Botham, but Wisconsin proved to be just too big to handle.
UW out-rebounded UWM 46-36 while dominating in the paint. Most importantly, the Badgers committed a season-low 15 turnovers, while a pressing defense was able to force 19.
For Wisconsin, Stomski led everyone in scoring with 27 points, tying her season high. She also pulled down 11 boards, giving her 30 career double-doubles, second on the all-time UW list behind Theresa Huff.
Moore was two assists shy of a triple-double, scoring 11 points, grabbing 10 rebounds, and dishing out eight assists. Black contributed 15 points, including three momentum-giving three-pointers.
The Panthers were led by freshman center Maria Viall, who had 17 points and eight rebounds, and Willoughby, who contributed five points off the bench in UWM’s second-half run.
Wisconsin was able to hold UWM leading scorer Jessica Wilhite to four points, allowing her to hoist up just seven shots.
