[media-credit name=’Courtesy of Matthew Kutz’ align=’alignnone’ width=’648′][/media-credit]Wisconsin women’s basketball team (8-10 overall, 2-6 in Big Ten) grabbed a 20-point lead midway through the second half and withstood a late Michigan (5-15 overall, 1-8 in Big Ten) rally to post their second conference win of the season, 79-71, Sunday afternoon at the Kohl Center.

Five Badger turnovers allowed the Wolverines to take a 15-9 lead with 13:37 left in the first half as senior forward Tabitha Pool and freshman guard Krista Clement combined for 11 of the Wolverine’s 15 points. Moments later, a 3-pointer by Michigan guard Becky Flippin gave the Wolverines their biggest lead at 18-9. After Wisconsin cut the lead to three at 19-16, the Wolverines scored on consecutive lay-ups to push the lead back to seven.

That’s when Wisconsin freshman Danielle Ward entered the game for the Badgers and provided a spark almost immediately.

“The coach says just go play, don’t worry about messing up or anything,” Ward said.

Ward picked up a steal and fed forward Ebba Gebisa on the break for a hoop that would propel a 10-0 Badger run. Then Ward scored and was fouled off a pass from guard Stephanie Rich to put Wisconsin within two at 23-21.

Wisconsin’s leading scorer Jolene Anderson missed three of her first four shots and committed five turnovers to start the game, in large part due to the shadow provided by Michigan’s Kelly Helvey. But Anderson finally found some room, and connected on a 3-pointer from the left corner to give the Badgers a 24-23 lead they would never relinquish.

With the score tied at 28-28, Wisconsin mounted another run. Ward was fouled on a basket in the paint, then added a steal and lay-in to go along with a Janese Banks basket and a Shari’ Welton free throw to give Wisconsin a seven-point advantage with under a minute to play. Michigan, after going four minutes without a field goal, got within 35-31 at the half after a 3-pointer from Flippin with two seconds remaining.

Wisconsin tried for the knockout punch with 13:30 remaining in the game as Gebisa scored inside off a feed from Rich and then added two free throws to fuel a 19-5 Badger run over the next seven minutes.

“Being very familiar with her, I really thought that she used her size to change some shots for us,” Michigan head coach Cheryl Burnett said. “Her long wingspan, I thought, changed some of those shots.”

Reserve guard Ashley Josephson, who only attempted one shot in the first half, nailed back-to-back jumpers and seconds later hit her first 3-pointer in three games to help Wisconsin build a sizeable lead. After picking Tabitha Pool’s pocket and driving the length of the court for a lay-in, Josephson gave the Badgers a 63-43 lead with just 6:57 left to play.

With a 20-point lead, the game appeared well in hand, but Michigan was not about to throw in the towel. Pool, playing with four fouls, connected on a pair of 3-pointers and added two put-back baskets to cut Wisconsin’s lead to seven with just under two minutes to play.

Wisconsin, which was only 2-for-9 on free throws in the first half, did not miss a single attempt in the second half as they went a perfect 16-for-16. And they needed every single one to hold off Michigan. Flippin buried three deep 3-pointers in the final minute to give Michigan a chance, but Wisconsin was too tough from the line and escaped with the eight-point victory.

Anderson paced the Badgers in scoring with 21, while Gebisa, who started in place of Jordan Wilson for the second straight game, scored a season-high 18 points. Gebisa’s total included a perfect 10-for-10 from the charity stripe in a season-high 28 minutes of action.

“It’s definitely been tough not being out on the floor and help[ing] my team out, but I knew I just needed to stick with it, and my time would come if it was meant to be,” Gebisa said.

Josephson finished the contest with nine points while Ward and Rich each added eight.

“Knowing Michigan was going to make a push, I thought we were much smarter down the stretch as well as finding scoring from other people,” Stone said.

Michigan’s Tabitha Pool led all scorers with 28 points and added 12 rebounds. She also finished 4-for-7 from behind the arc. Flippin finished with 15 points, all coming on 3-point buckets, while Clement rounded out Michigan’s double-figure scoring with 13, including three 3-pointers of her own. Michigan finished the game 12-of-21 from 3-point range, a 57 percent average, despite entering the game shooting just 29 percent from beyond the arc. The Badgers dominated the Wolverines in points in the paint 38-18, thanks in large part to a stellar performance from junior forward Annie Nelson. Nelson notched a career-high with 13 rebounds.

“There is not a player on our basketball team that has to be the leading scorer every single game,” Stone said. “I have five players out there who I hope can give us energy and carry us on to a win.”