The University of Wisconsin used a hot shooting hand in the second half and its superior size to beat Butler University 61-46 in the championship game of the Conesto/Coconut Grove Thanksgiving Classic in Miami Saturday. The championship was the first Badger tournament title since 2001 and the first under Coach Lisa Stone. UW wins its second straight game and improves to 2-1 on the season, while the Bulldogs drop to 1-4.
Sophomore reserve forward Jordan Wilson, who posted career highs in points (13) and rebounds (15) in the title game, received M.V.P. honors. Guard Ashley Josephson joined Wilson on the all-tournament team.
The Badgers shot 58 percent from the floor in the second half to pull away from Butler and took advantage of their size advantage throughout the game to out-rebound the Bulldogs by 17. Butler had no answer for UW’s strong inside game, and three Badger post players, Wilson, Emily Ashbaugh, and Lello Gebisa, outscored (47-46) and outrebounded (33-29) the entire Bulldog team.
Ashbaugh led all scorers with a season-high 22 points on 9-16 shooting. She also collected 10 rebounds for the double-double. Lello Gebisa notched a season-high 12 points and added eight rebounds. Stephanie Rich again had trouble finding the hoop but contributed in other areas with seven assists, three rebounds, three blocks, and three steals.
“I’m very proud of my players,” Stone said. “We put in a new [zone] defense in 15 minutes at a shoot-around today, and we really absorbed it and executed it well. When we can win a game against a good team like Butler with [our leading scorer] Steph Rich having three points and Ashley Josephson with four that says a lot. Our post players gave us some scoring, but I can not say enough about Jordan Wilson. She changed the whole game; she came in and gave us energy, intensity, and she gave us rebounding like there was no tomorrow.”
The Badgers took control of a back-and-forth game with an 11-2 run midway through the opening frame to take a 20-14 lead at the 8:12 mark that they would never relinquish. The big Badger zone wreaked havoc with the Bulldogs’ outside shooters, who shot only 22 percent in the first half, including a mere 1-13 from three-point land (27 percent and 5-25 for the game). UW maintained its six-point margin with a 26-20 halftime advantage
Wisconsin held Butler scoreless to open the second half and pushed its lead to 32-20 after two minutes of action. The Badgers continued to extend the margin to 43-25, but the scrappy Bulldogs capitalized on a UW scoring drought to mount a 16-2 run that pulled them to within 45-41 with 7:13 left to play. Back-to-back three-point plays by Wilson and Ashbaugh gave the momentum back to the Badgers who held on for the 61-46 win.
Nancy Bowden was the only Bulldog in double figures with 11 points to go along with seven assists. Lisa Pryor scored eight points for Butler, and Dionne Goodwin grabbed a team-high seven rebounds.
