In a game that came down to the final shot, the Michigan Wolverines (10-9, 3-3) earned their first victory in Madison since 1990, defeating the UW women’s basketball team (7-9, 1-5), 63-60.
“It was a great basketball game that didn’t go our way,” UW head coach Lisa Stone said. “What we can do about it is think and dwell, or we can get back to work and get ready for Northwestern.”
Trailing 61-60 with 25 seconds to play, the Badgers put the ball in the capable hands of point guard Stephanie Rich. Rich drove along the baseline and broke free for an uncontested layup, but her shot sailed past the rim and into the hands of Michigan center Jennifer Smith with one second remaining in the game. Smith was immediately fouled, and the Wolverines’ leading scorer calmly sank a pair of free throws to close out the game.
Rich finished with 16 points, six rebounds and three assists and shot 3-6 from 3-point range, but she was unable to come through in the game’s final seconds.
“It was so wide open,” Rich said. “They were stuck on me and Ashley [Josephson] and somehow I just got open. I was expecting contact, and I think that’s probably why I threw it over the backboard. It was right there. If I had more of a jump in my legs I would have thrown it down.”
Smith, who ranks fifth in the Big Ten in scoring (19.6 points per game), carried the Wolverines with 32 points and six rebounds, shooting 10-14 from the field and 12-12 from the free-throw line. The talented center was virtually unstoppable inside, scoring more than half of her team’s points.
“I was just really confident that my teammates would get me the ball,” Smith said. “They gave me some great passes. They were doing a wonderful job of getting me the ball the whole time, so I was just focusing on posting up hard and my teammates did the rest.”
Though she was unable to shut down Smith, center Emily Ashbaugh turned in an impressive performance with 16 points, four rebounds and two blocked shots on 6-8 shooting. After coming off the bench for three consecutive games, Ashbaugh returned to the starting lineup and contributed immediately. She scored the game’s first basket and recorded six of the Badgers’ first 13 points.
After a layup from Ashbaugh tied the game at 13, Wisconsin went on an 8-0 run to take a commanding 21-13 lead with 10:58 remaining in the first half.
Foul trouble hurt the Badgers in the first half, as Ashbaugh and center Lello Gebisa each left the game with two early fouls. Smith took advantage, leading a 15-2 run that gave the Wolverines a 28-23 lead with 4:10 left in the half.
Wisconsin’s struggles continued as Michigan capitalized on a Wisconsin scoring drought to take a 35-29 halftime lead. The Badgers were scoreless for more than four minutes and managed just six points in the final seven minutes of the half.
“I didn’t think we finished the first half as strong as I would have liked,” Stone said. “We went for seven minutes, and we scored six points. But we turned it around and started the second half handling the pressure a little better.”
The Badgers charged out of the gates in the second half, opening the half with a 14-2 run to take a 43-37 lead with 12:16 remaining in the game. Once again, Smith brought the Wolverines back, leading a 12-7 run that tied the game at 53-53 with 4:39 to go.
Foul trouble continued to plague the Badgers, as Gebisa fouled out with more than five minutes remaining in the game. Without Gebisa’s inside presence, the Badgers could not stop Michigan from pounding the ball inside to Smith, who scored 20 of her game-high 32 points in the second half.
“[Smith] is strong and physical,” Stone said. “She pushed and shoved a bit to get position. Give her credit, because she made things work inside. She does nothing fancy, she plays physical Big Ten basketball.”
After Michigan tied the game at 53, the Badgers went on a 7-2 run to take a 60-55 lead with 2:29 to play. The Wolverines fought back with four unanswered points from Smith to cut Wisconsin’s lead to one point with 1:09 remaining.
The Badgers failed to score on their next possession as Rich missed an off-balance jumper in the lane, setting the stage for Michigan guard Tabitha Pool’s late-game heroics. With the Badgers’ defense focusing on Smith, Pool found an opening and drilled a jump shot to put the Wolverines ahead 61-60 with 31 seconds to play.
“I just had an open look and I was confident in taking that shot,” Pool said. “I just knocked it down.”
The Badgers called a timeout and Stone drew up a play that resulted in Rich driving baseline for an uncontested layup, but Rich could not finish, and the Badgers fell 63-60 after Smith tacked on a pair of free throws to close out the game.