Following a disappointing one-point loss at home to Nebraska, the Wisconsin women’s basketball team (11-11, 3-8 Big Ten) responded well in their two-game road trip.
Women’s Basketball: Badgers collapse late, fall to Nebraska at home
Though Wisconsin only split their two road games, they played well overall, defeating Illinois (10-11, 1-9) by a score of 73–64 and squaring toe-to-toe with No. 18 Indiana (18-5, 8-3). In fact, the Badgers held a solid lead throughout the majority of their contest before falling 75–65 in overtime.
Freshman guard Sydney Hilliard was a big reason for Wisconsin’s success last week. Hilliard brought her play up a notch, averaging 15.5 points, 8.5 rebounds and 3.5 assists per game on 52% shooting from the field. For her performance, Hilliard was named the Big Ten’s co-freshman of the week.
Hilliard scored a career-high 23 points last Thursday against Indiana. Hilliard and the Badgers will look to continue their stellar play this week with games against Minnesota (14-8, 4-7) and The Ohio State University (12-9, 5-5).
The Badgers open the weekend with a significant home game Thursday night against Minnesota. After defeating the Gophers 72–62 in their Jan. 22nd matchup, the Badgers have the opportunity to sweep the Gophers for the first time since the 2011 to 2012 season. In fact, prior to their win over the Gophers earlier this season, the Badgers had not won a game against them since that 2011 to 2012 run.
Women’s Basketball: Badgers need win in ‘prove it’ games with Big Ten schedule nearing close
To end this drought, Wisconsin will need to neutralize freshman guard Jasmine Powell. Powell has been red-hot as of late, averaging 19 points per game over her last two games. Powell has been the catalyst in Minnesota’s two-game winning streak, tallying 3.5 assists per game to go along with her 19 points. Last week, Powell shared freshman of the week honors with Hilliard.
After Thursday’s rivalry game, Wisconsin will travel to Columbus for a Sunday contest against Ohio State at the Value City Arena.
It has been quite an inconsistent season for Kevin McGuff’s squad. The Buckeyes have one of the more head-scratching resumes in Women’s College Basketball. They captured wins against marquee opponents including No. 5 Louisville, Michigan and Nebraska.
Yet, on the flip side, the Buckeyes lost games to Michigan State and Ohio University. Michigan State is near the bottom of the Big Ten standings and OU has only the third best record out of all MAC teams.
Sunday’s game features a matchup of two of the Big Ten’s top sophomore forwards. Imani Lewis has been the heart and soul of Wisconsin’s team, averaging 15 points and 8.6 rebounds per game. With nine double-doubles on the season, teams have struggled to slow down Lewis’ productivity.
The Buckeyes look to neutralize Lewis with towering six-foot four-inch forward from Pécs, Hungary, Dorka Juhász. A 2018 to 2019 Second Team All-Big Ten nominee, Juhász has improved in her second year, posting 13.1 points and 8.7 rebounds per game. It’s fair to say that the battle down low between Lewis and Juhasz will have a major factor on the result of Sunday’s game.
After Sunday’s contest against Ohio State, Wisconsin returns home to take on Purdue.
