The Wisconsin women’s basketball team once again competed with one of the best teams in the Big Ten conference but couldn’t finish out a tremendous effort with an upset win; falling 59-48 to Minnesota.

“We’ve been battling, we really have,” UW head coach Lisa Stone said. “We gave good effort and showed great heart. It’s just unfortunate we came up on the short end.”

The Badgers were hoping for their first win over a ranked team since they came as close as one could get with a 60-59 loss to league-leading Penn State in mid-January. Several times throughout the contest the No. 13-ranked Golden Gophers threatened to blow the game wide open, but Wisconsin stayed within striking distance and wouldn’t go down without a fight.

The Gophers increased their seven-point halftime lead to 11 and were looking to continue their early second-half run. Wisconsin, though, went on an 8-0 run to get within three with more than 13 minutes remaining, thanks to a 3-pointer from Ashley Josephson, an old-fashioned three-point play from Lello Gebisa and a jumper and two free throws from Emily Ashbaugh. Every time Wisconsin got close though, the Gophers separated themselves with a enough of a cushion that allowed them to pull off the win.

The Badgers never fell behind by more than 11 points, but they could also never get over the hump and pull closer than six the rest of the game.

Wisconsin held Minnesota to its second-lowest scoring output of the season. The Gophers came into the game as the Big Ten’s leading offense, averaging just over 75 points per game. The Badgers, though, could not shut down All-American guard Lindsay Whalen. Whalen scored 24 points and pulled down a surprising nine boards to keep the Badgers at bay.

“They are a great basketball team,” Stone said. “Obviously, Lindsay Whalen is a pretty special players she makes that team go. I give her team a lot of credit.”

Sophomore point guard Shannon Schonrock was also a huge dagger in the Badgers’ side. Schonrock nailed two 3-pointers at pivotal moments in the game. Her second 3-pointer with just 2:34 remaining in the game dashed any hopes of a Badger comeback, as her three ball pushed the lead to 11 at 55-44.

That proved to be Minnesota’s last field goal of the game, but it was enough to hold off a determined Badger squad. Schonrock and Whalen added four free throws to finish off the Badgers for the game’s final margin.

Wisconsin held Minnesota center and Stevens Point, Wis., native Janel McCarville in check scoring-wise, limiting her to just four points, 11 below her average. McCarville gave Wisconsin fits even on the offensive end with her no-look passes that often found teammates open for a basket. Her late tip-in as time expired in the first half gave her team a seven-point lead and momentum heading into the second half.

McCarville could find another way to hurt the Badgers, as well.

The Big Ten’s leading rebounder pulled down 13 rebounds, including four on the offensive end. She also made her presence known defensively, as she disrupted several passes intended for Wisconsin post players and notched a team-high five steals.

Her physical play limited Wisconsin to just 18 inside points, while Minnesota controlled the lane most of the day with 32 points of their own.

“People might say we just shut down McCarville. We didn’t shut down Janel McCarville,” Stone said. “Although points are what a lot of people will look at, she makes a lot of people better.”

Revenge may have been on the minds of Wisconsin’s upperclassmen, as two years ago Minnesota came into Madison and knocked off the No. 5-ranked Badgers 92-85. As a result, the loss ended Wisconsin’s 15-game winning streak and started the Badgers on a downhill spiral that saw them lose 11 out of their final 14 games in the 2001-2002 season.

History was doomed to repeat itself due to Minnesota’s advantage in a few statistical categories.

Rebounding kept Wisconsin from cutting into Minnesota’s lead late in the game, as the Gophers out-rebounded the taller Badgers 35-28. The Gophers also shot the ball better than the Badgers, hitting 43 percent of their attempts compared to Wisconsin’s 37 percent. Minnesota was also effective from 3-point range, nailing six for 38 percent, while Wisconsin could just muster two 3-pointers for 15 percent.

“We’re having a little trouble putting the ball in the basket right now,” Stone said. “If we make a couple shots here and there it might put Minnesota in a different situation. We’ve just got to keep working at it; it’s evident we’ve made strides.”