With a 64-58 loss to Western Illinois (2-2), UW (2-2) snapped a two-game winning streak Monday night.
The Badgers jumped out to an early 8-3 lead, but Western Illinois battled back to tie the game at 14 on a 3-pointer from guard Orinta Kavaliauskaite.
The Westerwinds continued to light it up from 3-point range, taking a 27-23 lead with 4:40 remaining in the first half.
Led by forward Ebba Gebisa, who scored all eight of her points in the first half, the Badgers chipped away at the lead, entering halftime trailing 32-31.
Western Illinois came out firing in the second half, opening the period on an 11-4 run to take a 43-35 lead, but the Badgers answered with two 3-pointers of their own from guard Ashley Josephson, cutting the lead to 47-43 with 9:12 remaining.
With the Badgers trailing 51-45, center Emily Ashbaugh fouled out after recording eight points and six rebounds in 16 minutes of action.
Playing without its inside leader, Wisconsin turned to the perimeter as Josephson and guard Stephanie Rich kept the Badgers in the game. The only Badger to score in double figures, Josephson led Wisconsin with 12 points on 4-8 shooting and hit 2-4 from three-point range. Despite shooting 2-12 from the field, Rich ran the point effectively to record a career-high eight assists.
“I’m a point guard now, so I’m looking for Ashley (Josephson),” Rich said. “I’m driving and kicking with the way she’s shooting.”
Capping a 6-0 Wisconsin run, Rich intercepted a pass at half court and finished with a layup to cut the lead to 56-54 with 2:21 remaining in the game. But Wisconsin would come no closer, as a clutch 3-pointer from guard Rita Castans halted the Badgers’ comeback.
“It was just one of those plays where everybody collapsed on Zane [Teilane], and she saw me out there and gave me a great pass,” Castans said. “You just got to be ready to shoot it.”
Behind strong shooting from Castans and Kavaliauskaite, who shot 3-6 from beyond the arc to lead Western Illinois with 15 points, the Westerwinds knocked down a season-high nine 3-pointers.
After attempting just 23 3-point shots all year coming into the game, Western Illinois attempted more threes in one game (24) than in the first three games of the season combined.
“We told our kids today that [the Badgers] were going to give them the looks because in our other games we hadn’t proved that we could shoot the basketball,” Western Illinois head coach Leslie Crane said. “I gave the green light to a lot of kids tonight.”
With foul trouble limiting Ashbaugh’s minutes, the Badgers struggled inside, posting season-low 32 rebounds.
“Out-rebounding them 38-32 and having 19 offensive boards was probably the difference in the ball game tonight,” Crane said.
The Badgers will look for a turnaround game as they travel to South Bend, Ind., to take on Notre Dame Dec. 4.
“I told my team that my boat is leaving for South Bend — jump in it and let’s go after them,” head coach Lisa Stone said. “We can’t hang our heads; we have to pick them up.”
