After beating archrival Minnesota for the first time since the 2011-12 season, the University of Wisconsin women’s basketball team (10-9, 2-6 Big Ten), look to ride their momentum into Saturday’s home matchup against Nebraska (14-5, 4-4).
In the win, sophomore Imani Lewis led the way, scoring 23 points on 9-for-14 shooting from the floor. Lewis was also active on the boards, collecting a season-high 16 rebounds. As a team, Wisconsin was able to control the glass and outrebounded Minnesota 41–36.
Women’s Basketball: Badgers snap losing streak, win in Minnesota
A key second-half stretch was pivotal in Wisconsin’s road win. The Badgers erased a three-point halftime deficit by outscoring Minnesota 19–8 in the third quarter. Wisconsin played tenacious defense in the third quarter, holding the Gophers to just 3-for-17 shooting.
The Badgers’ defense has allowed opponents to only 63.3 points per game this season and will look to continue their stout play Saturday.
A key to Saturday’s game for Wisconsin will be slowing down sophomore forward Leigha Brown. In Wisconsin’s 65–50 loss to the Cornhuskers in early January, Brown scored a team-high 15 points and knocked down two 3-pointers. While Brown doesn’t start for Nebraska, she leads the team in scoring at 13.3 points per game.
Wisconsin junior guard Niya Beverley will look to continue her impressive stretch Saturday. After a poor 1-for-8 shooting performance in Wisconsin’s 69–52 loss to Michigan State, Beverley has responded well, averaging 12.6 points per game over the past three games.
Since being inserted into the starting lineup for Wisconsin’s Dec. 8 game against North Dakota State, Beverley has seen an increase in scoring. In 11 games as a starter, Beverley has averaged 9.81 points per game compared to averaging 4.6 points per game off the bench.
Women’s Basketball: Badgers scuffle against Georgia Tech, bounce back to beat North Dakota State
Wisconsin will also look to limit their turnovers in Saturday’s game. In their loss in Lincoln, Wisconsin committed 14 sloppy turnovers. Though the Badgers forced Nebraska to 16 turnovers, Wisconsin was unable to convert on the opposite end and was outscored 15–7 in points off turnovers.
The Badgers currently sit tied for 11th in the Big Ten Conference standings. With 10 conference games remaining, the Badgers will look to leapfrog teams before the conference tournament in March. The Cornhuskers are two games ahead of Wisconsin with a 4-4 Big Ten record.
Saturday’s game will tip-off 11 a.m. at the Kohl Center.
