The UW women’s basketball team (2-5) recorded its first home win of the season Tuesday night as it dominated Eastern Illinois throughout the second half, ending in a 78-52 victory.
The Badgers started their game against the visiting Panthers by scoring the first five points and never looking back. Although Eastern Illinois went into halftime down 36-30, the Badgers’ greatest first-half nemeses were themselves.
“I thought our defensive effort in the first half was extremely poor, and we really challenged the [players], and they proved that when they are challenged to play defense they can really pick up their intensity,” head coach Jane Albright said.
“I think our basketball team did a very good job in the second half of playing a very intense game. I thought we did some things that we said we wanted to work on; we dominated the boards … we pounded the ball inside like we wanted to, and we were able to get to the free-throw line a record [number] of times for the year.”
The Panthers ended the first half shooting the ball 48 percent and saw team leader Brooke Gossett with a game-high 10 points. They also committed one fewer turnover than the Badgers and made one more three-pointer.
Compared with Eastern Illinois, the Badgers’ first half was rife with mistakes and poor defense. Starting forward Ebba Gebisa committed six turnovers, and the team made just 1-5 three-point attempts. The few bright spots came in the continuing maturity of freshman starting point guard Ashley Josephson and the production of senior guard Kristi Seeger. Josephson scored all nine of her points in the first half, while Seeger went 4-5 on her way to a 12-point game.
“I thought Kristi had a real nice game,” Albright said. “I thought she was more aggressive shooting the ball, and we want her to take more shots than she’s taking.”
As the second half began, the Badgers came onto the floor with a new lineup, as freshman Jordan Wilson replaced Ebba Gebisa. The switch appeared to work immediately on the defensive end of the court, as Eastern Illinois did not even hit the basket with a shot until three minutes had elapsed. Lello Gebisa led the second-half charge offensively, as she scored seven straight points, putting the Badgers up 56-39.
“[In] the first half, we were trying to go inside and were getting hammered,” Gebisa said. [In] the second half, we just decided that we needed to expect the contact, and so when I got the ball, I decided to be more patient, and I was either getting the call or making the basket.”
Gebisa ended the game with 11 points and was one of four Badger players in double digits. The others were Stephanie Rich with a team-high 14, Kristi Seeger with 12 and Emily Ashbaugh with 13. Ashbaugh tied a career high with 12 rebounds in the game while recording her second double-double of the season.
“I thought in the first half that I rushed a lot of shots that I shouldn’t have, and I was trying so hard to get through the double-team that once I got there, I forgot I was going to shoot,” Ashbaugh said. “In the second half, I calmed down a little bit more offensively, and I was expecting a lot more contact.”
Eastern Illinois scored just 22 points against the tenacious Badger defense in the second half, committing 13 turnovers.
“Defensively, I think that the second half we just all looked at each other and decided that this is ridiculous and we need to pick it up,” Ashbaugh said. “We all just looked around at each other and said, ‘All right, here we go, back to basics. It starts on defense, and then we’ll work on offense.'”
The Badgers were led on defense by Shawna Nicols, who replaced Josephson at point guard. Nicols vocally led the Badger offense and committed just one turnover in 14 minutes of play.
“I love to be up there and to be able to call the plays and take care of [the ball] and give it to the people that can score,” Nicols said. “I [felt] totally comfortable.”
Nicols is expected to increase her playing time as her healing back gets closer and closer to 100 percent health. She ended the game with two points, two steals and three rebounds as the Badgers’ offense was run through her.
“Shawna came in and, I thought, did a really nice job of playing heady,” Albright said. “She is heady and gutsy, and she takes charges, and she does a lot of things that don’t show up on a stat sheet.”
The 26-point victory was the Badgers’ largest of the season and their first in front of a Kohl Center crowd. The Badgers travel to Drake this Saturday to take on a team that made it to last year’s Sweet Sixteen.
“All in all, we were pleased in our improvement,” Albright said. “We still think we have a long way to go, but I think we showed some very positive signs.”
