Coming off of a 58-42 loss to No. 6 Purdue, the UW women’s basketball team (8-11, 2-7) fell 59-48 to No. 13 Minnesota (17-3, 6-3) Sunday.
The Badgers held the Gophers to their second-lowest point total of the year, but could not take advantage. Minnesota’s high-powered offense, which leads the Big Ten in scoring (75.1 points per game) and has outscored opponents by an average of 17.4 points per contest, managed just 59 points against Wisconsin’s impressive defensive performance.
“Once again a courageous effort by our basketball team against a powerful Minnesota team,” head coach Lisa Stone said. “We fought right to the end. To hold Minnesota to 59 points is great for us.”
Despite a sub-par offensive output, the Gophers overwhelmed the Badgers in the post. Behind strong performances from guard Lindsay Whalen and center Janel McCarville, Minnesota out-rebounded the Badgers 35-28 and posted a 32-18 edge in points in the paint. The Gophers’ dominant inside game held Wisconsin to a season-low 28 rebounds.
“We knew we were going to have our hands full on the boards tonight,” Minnesota coach Pam Borton said. “Wisconsin averages 16 offensive rebounds a game and we did a real nice job just holding them to five.”
Whalen, the Big Ten’s second-leading scorer (21.2 points per game), scored a game-high 24 points on 10-18 shooting and pulled down nine rebounds.
“She is a fantastic player,” Stone said of Whalen. “I thought Ashley [Josephson] and Bakke did a pretty decent job on her, but we lost her a few times. Nine boards is huge for a guard, and 24 points. She made some plays when they needed it.”
A Stevens Point, Wisc. native, McCarville, who shares the Big Ten lead in rebounds (9.9 per game) with Illinois’ Cindy Dallas, pulled down a game-high 13 rebounds.
“I really like playing here,” McCarville said. “It’s kind of like a home away from home. I grew up an hour and a half from here and I came to a lot of games, so just the fact that I can play here makes you a little more excited about the game.”
Head coach Lisa Stone introduced another new starting lineup, giving forward Kjersten Bakke the nod at small forward in place of forward Ebba Gebisa and starting forward Jordan Wilson over senior captain Emily Ashbaugh. In her second start of the season, Bakke managed just two points, two rebounds and three assists as foul trouble limited her to just 26 minutes of play. Making her sixth start of the year, Wilson recorded four points and three assists.
Center Lello Gebisa posted her second consecutive double-double with 13 points and 11 rebounds, but Gebisa and the Badgers were overmatched by Whalen and the nationally-ranked Gophers.
The Gophers jumped out to a 5-0 lead, but the Badgers responded with a 13-6 run to take a 13-11 lead with 9:04 remaining in the first half. Minnesota quickly regained the lead as Whalen led a 6-0 run that put the Gophers ahead 17-13.
After Wisconsin rallied to tie the game at 19, Minnesota closed out the half on a 7-0 run to take a 26-19 halftime lead.
Early in the second half, the Badgers had a major scare when guard Stephanie Rich left the game after suffering an ankle injury on a drive to the basket. With the Big Ten’s assist leader on the sidelines, the Badgers went on a 10-2 run to cut Minnesota’s lead to three points with 13:25 to play.
Rich returned with 11:30 remaining in the game and the Badgers down 41-34, but the seven-point deficit was as close as the Badgers would get.
Trailing 47-40 with 8:43 remaining, the Badgers did not score for 4 minutes and 28 seconds of game time, turning the ball over on four consecutive possessions. During the Badgers’ scoring draught, Minnesota opened a ten-point lead and never looked back.