The University of Wisconsin women’s basketball team (3-4) ended a four-game skid with a 75-66 victory over the visiting University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Panthers (2-5) Wednesday night. Led by a balanced scoring attack — with all five starters scoring in double figures — the Badgers enjoyed their first win after a grueling four-game road trip.
“It feels nice just to sleep in your own bed,” head coach Lisa Stone said. “But to come home is certainly very, very welcome.”
“Just to come home, get a nice win and play a quality team like UWM, practice will be a little bit better tomorrow,” senior point guard Stephanie Rich added.
The game was a tale of two halves, as the both teams failed to dominate in the first stanza. Rich opened the game with a steal that led to the first bucket of the game for the Badgers on their way to a five-point lead, 12-7, at the 16:22 mark of the first half.
However, that was the largest lead of the first half for either team, as the Badgers and Panthers battled back and forth for the remainder. UW-Milwaukee kept it close by dominating the offensive glass, grabbing eight offensive boards to the Badgers’ two and hitting some timely 3-point shots.
“We hit big 3s in the first half,” Panther head coach Sandy Botham said. “We played very aggressively in the first half and moved the ball very well also.”
A combination of these factors gave the Panthers a 31-30 lead with six minutes to play in the first half. But Badger junior forward Annie Nelson went on an offensive tear to end the half, scoring six of the Badgers’ final eight points and helping them head into halftime with a narrow 38-36 lead.
“We talked a lot about defense and rebounding at halftime … I was not happy with our defense in the first half,” Stone said. “But I thought our team responded very well in the second half.”
Both teams came out fiery to start the second half. The first minute was reminiscent of the first half, as both teams continued to trade baskets. However, starting at the 19:00 mark of the second half, the Badgers went on a 20-3, 10-minute run to pull away from the visiting Panthers, 60-43.
“They didn’t shoot a 3 in the second half,” Botham said. “They went inside and they penetrated well and broke us down.”
But UW-Milwaukee fought back. Spurred by 12 of the Badgers’ 21 turnovers in the second half, the Panthers got to within 11, 65-54, after Panther forward Molly O’Brien hit a jumper with 4:33 left in the game.
But Badger guard Jolene Anderson thwarted the Panther comeback. Anderson scored eight of her game-leading 16 points in the ensuing three minutes, building the Badger lead to as high as 17 during that stretch. The Panthers made another late run but were unable to get any closer than the 75-66 final.
“UW-Milwaukee didn’t stop playing — they worked hard,” Stone said. “(But) our team feels good about the win.”
“They had a great run in the second half,” Botham said. “Offensively, we just stalled in the second half. We didn’t move the ball. We were holding it more and weren’t sharing it as well as we had in the first half.”
The final stat sheet saw all five starters scoring double figures, with Anderson’s 16 leading the way. Nelson was second on the team with 12, junior forward Jordan Wilson pitched in 11, and both Rich and freshman guard Janese Banks chipped in 10 points. Banks rounded out a solid stat line by leading the team with eight rebounds, six assists and a pair of steals.
“It’s good because we may have Jolene (Anderson) drop 26 one game or something like that, but when we can all score it makes it harder for defenses,” Rich said. “They can’t just key on one player.”
The Badgers set season highs in several categories. The Badgers’ 55 percent field-goal percentage, 43 percent 3-point percentage and 89 percent free-throw percentage were all new team bests.
“You aren’t going to beat a team when you shoot 40 percent to their 55 percent,” Botham said.
