Sophomore forward Ebba Gebisa was able to jockey for position and successfully tip in teammate Ashley Josephson’s leaning jumper in the final moments of last night’s matchup with the Ball State Cardinals. Gebisa’s put-back failed to beat the buzzer, however, leaving the Badgers one point shy of picking up their first home victory of the season, losing by a score of 82-81.
Following a mid-range jumper by junior center Lello Gebisa in the waning moments of the first half, the Badgers found themselves trailing by just two points heading into intermission, 42-44.
However, Ball State, with leading scorer Tamara Bowie leading the way, quickly opened up the scoring margin in the second half, stretching its lead to as much as 16 with just 11:52 remaining.
Bowie, who has been on antibiotics throughout the week because of illness, fought through her ailments and scored a game-high 25 points on 10-24 shooting.
Senior forward Kristi Seeger and UW clamped down on Bowie and Ball State’s other major scoring threats, however, putting together an 18-2 run late in the second half.
UW head coach Jane Albright would have liked to pick up a win but was proud of the way her team rallied from behind in the second half.
“I think the character of this team was pretty much exemplified,” said Albright. “We just kept running. The tempo was definitely what we wanted to do, and we hit some outside shots and some inside and played better defense. The group played really hard, really fresh and very smart together … I’m really proud of this group.”
Despite suffering the loss, the Badgers did get some outstanding individual performances from junior center Emily Ashbaugh and freshman point guard Ashley Josephson.
Ashbaugh, who measures in at a towering 6-feet-5, utilized her height advantage and finished the game with a career-high 17 points. Whether she was muscling her way to the basket or finding herself open in transition, Ashbaugh was clicking on all cylinders throughout the night and missed just five of her 13 shots.
After struggling to find her rhythm early in the season, she has felt more comfortable on the floor in recent games.
“I’m just a lot more comfortable on the court … and I was at Pepperdine and I was tonight,” said Ashbaugh. “I don’t know if that’s just because of location or if I just got tired of being unsure and tired of missing my layups, but I think it has a lot to do with the team that I’m playing with. Once everyone was a little more settled and a little bit more comfortable … it just feels a lot better out there right now.”
Ashbaugh’s performance was mirrored by teammate Ashley Josephson. Josephson, playing in just her sixth game as a Badger, matched Ashbaugh’s total of 17 points, dished out a pair of assists, and didn’t commit a single turnover in her game-high 37 minutes. Despite missing a last-second jumper that would have won the game, Coach Albright was impressed with the amount of poise and leadership her young floor general played with.
“Ashley ended up taking that last-second shot on a sideline in-bounds play that was just a read … I just wanted her to read what was there,” said coach Albright. “I know Ashley is feeling like [the loss]was her fault, but it certainly wasn’t. She did a great job of hitting a lot of shots to get us in that comeback … I was really proud of her. She certainly played like a very veteran point guard tonight.”
Badgerball hopes to rebound from this heartbreaking loss and pick up the first home win of the season Tuesday when they play host to Eastern Illinois.
