[media-credit name=’AJ Maclean’ align=’alignnone’ width=’648′][/media-credit]The Wisconsin women’s basketball team ended its exhibition season Sunday with a 74-64 win against the Minnesota State-Moorhead Dragons at the Kohl Center. The win is the Badgers’ first of the season, and gives them a stepping-stone going into their season opener.

“We’ll take the ‘W,'” Wisconsin head coach Lisa Stone said. “I told our team that we need to get used to, and taste, the feeling of success.”

The teams traded baskets to start the game and entered the game’s first time-out knotted in an 11-11 tie. But, coming out of the time-out, Wisconsin, fueled by eight points from senior guard Stephanie Rich, went on an 11-2 run to open up the game; the run gave the Badgers a 22-13 lead.

But the Dragons fired back, using a 15-5 run of their own to eventually overtake the Badgers in the first half on a pair of free throws from senior guard Jackie Doerr. The teams sparred for the remaining 3:47 of the first half, with the Badgers heading into halftime nursing a narrow 35-33 advantage.

Despite causing 12 turnovers in the first half, Stone’s squad was unable to extend its lead past two entering the break. The Dragons kept it close by going 9-10 from the free throw line and by out rebounding the Badgers by a 22-14 margin, including 6-4 on the offensive glass, in the first half.

“We talked a lot about rebounding at the half, and I think we did a better job in the second half,” Stone said. “We’re going to win games on defensive effort, and we will sell that (to our players) until it’s no longer for sale.”

Entering the second half, the Badgers clearly bought into the defensive mentality. The Badgers started the second half by allowing the Dragons only six points in the first 11 minutes.

“We worked the entire week on defensive transition coverage and [displaying] more intensity on defense,” Stone said. “We came out with some fire in our eyes, and we made some adjustments defensively. We made progress and that’s good. The things that we needed to address we did.”

While the defense smothered Minnesota State-Moorhead, the offense continued to click. The Badger’s lead swelled to the largest of the game at 63-39 at the 8:39 mark in the second half. The Dragons battled back, but the lead proved insurmountable for the team. The Dragons never got any closer than ten points the rest of the way.

Give them some credit; they were down 20 and never gave up,” Stone said. “They didn’t quit, and that’s going to allow them to have a very successful season. They’ve got some nice players, and they are well-coached, and they’ll do well in their conference.”

Junior forward Jordan Wilson paced the Badgers with 19 points, while guards Jolene Anderson and Stephanie Rich chipped in 17 and 12 points respectively. Anderson also led the team with nine rebounds and had four assists.

“We worked a lot at guard-post passing and the angles, and the different passes. I got great passes, right where I wanted them, and I just had pretty easy lay-ups for some of them. But the passing just made it very easy for me,” Wilson said of her performance.

The Dragons were led by sophomore center Jessica Fasenmaier, who had 14 points and nine rebounds for Moorhead. Wisconsin native Dana Weibel added eight points and three assists, but turned the ball over three times as well — a common theme for the Dragons who turned the ball over 21 times in the game.

After turning the ball over 23 times last week against the AAU squad, the Badgers bounced back, giving up the ball only nine times during the game.

While the Badgers kept their turnovers down, they lost the battle on the boards, 44-33. The Dragons won the offensive glass 13-10. The ladies also struggled from the free throw line for the second game in a row, going 7-13 on the game.

“The rebounding differential as well as the fouls and the trips to the free throw line are directly related. When help comes over and it’s late, and then we foul the shooter,” Stone said. “We, on the other hand, are shooting 53 percent from the free throw line, I’m not happy about that. The good thing is that these statistics don’t count. We get to start fresh on Friday and hopefully start at an 80 percent clip.”

The Badgers open up the regular season when they host the visiting IUPUI Jaguars at 7 p.m. this Friday at the Kohl Center.