Western Illinois used a sticky man-to-man defense and took advantage of foul trouble on the UW post players to even its record at 2-2. Rebounding proved to be the main difference in the game, especially when it came down to crunch time.

Western Illinois out-rebounded the taller Badgers 38-32 for the game, and half of those came on the offensive end. With Wisconsin displaying a relatively new zone defense, Western Illinois was forced to take 24 outside shots. The Westerwinds connected on only nine of them, but each of those came at a critical juncture of the game. The one that hurt Wisconsin the most came at the 1:54 mark of the second half by guard Rita Castans.

With the Badgers trailing by a mere two points and threatening to make a late comeback before their home crowd, Castans connected on her fourth and final bomb of the night. Wisconsin then found itself down five and got no closer than three the rest of the way.

Even when the Westerwinds missed from long range, they still managed to get a second chance at the basket. Wisconsin tried to stop the inside scoring threats of Western Illinois through its zone defense and overall was successful. The Badgers held Western Illinois’s starting post players to just 14 points. In particular, Wisconsin shut down preseason Mid-Continent Conference player of the year Tiffany Cornelius to only six points on 1-8 shooting. Cornelius’s team-high eight rebounds, though, were bigger than her points.

“I give Western Illinois a lot of credit for their physical play down low; they did a really good of using their bodies to create a lot of space,” Emily Ashbaugh said. “It was hard for Lello (Gebisa) and I to establish position down low, and the high-low was difficult with the ball pressure they put outside.”