The Wisconsin women’s basketball team had the chance to emulate last seasons’ men’s team’s accomplishment of beating No. 5 Duke and win the ACC/Big Ten Challenge. It was also an opportunity to end a five game losing streak.
However, Wisconsin fell just short, 59-51, but head coach Lisa Stone couldn’t have felt any better about a losing effort.
“I am really proud of our team,” Stone said. “To play one of the top-five teams in the country with an opportunity to win the game; it’s encouraging.”
The story of the game was the defense by both teams. The Badgers put forth an enormous effort right after the opening tip-off. Duke’s first possession ended with an air ball as time on the shot clock expired and forced Duke’s third-leading scorer, senior 6-foot-5 center Krystal Thomas, to travel on their second possession.
The Badgers capitalized and took an early 2-0 lead before the two teams traded 8-0 runs. Duke quickly went up 8-2 and Wisconsin followed suit going up 10-8 with a shot clock-beating three-pointer by senior forward Tara Steinbauer.
Wisconsin’s struggles began after Duke called a timeout following Wisconsin’s 8-0 run and went into a full court pressure that would give the Badgers fits for the rest of the night. The Blue Devils forced Wisconsin to turn the ball over 21 times, 13 of them in the first half. The pressure allowed Duke to go on a 19-6 run before the end of the half and lead 27-18 heading into the locker room.
Duke is accustomed to scoring over 70 points per game, but Wisconsin’s defense proved to be just as suffocating. The Badgers held the Blue Devils to 10-of-33 shooting in the first half and 20-60 for the game.
Turnovers weren’t the only fundamental error for Wisconsin, though. At game’s end, Duke held a 15-rebound advantage, 45-30, which included 20 offensive rebounds compared to only six for Wisconsin. The Blue Devils also made it to the free-throw line 10 more times than Wisconsin, shooting 15-of-24 compared to the Badgers’ 8-of-14.
“We didn’t box out, we needed to rebound a little bit better, take care of the ball under pressure; we knew that was going to happen and make some free throws,” Stone said.
The second half saw Wisconsin’s offensive game come to life and match their defensive effort as sophomore guard Taylor Wurtz put on a show. Wurtz hit four three pointers and scored 14 points in the second half and ended the game with 19 points on 7-14 shooting.
“I got really wide open looks [because] Alyssa [Karel] handled the pressure beautifully and hit me on open looks and we established an inside-outside game,” Wurtz said.
The Badgers would close their halftime deficit with a 13-4 run to tie the game at 31. It looked as if Wisconsin may take the lead, but Duke called another timeout and came back ready to play.
Despite being outscored 33-32 by the Badgers the Blue Devils continued to play with a lead for the rest of the game, thanks to a 10-2 run and Duke’s continued full court pressure and dominance on the glass.
Duke had only two players in double figures, as 2009-10 AP Third Team All-America Selection senior guard Jasmine Thomas was limited to 4-of-14 shooting.
Wisconsin’s performance may be a sign of things to come since Thursday’s game was the first time all season – apart from nine minutes against Kansas – that Wisconsin had their normal lineup on the floor. Senior forward Lin Zastrow returned after missing three games due to injury.
“This team turned a page today,” Stone said. “We played much differently, we were very energetic, we were not intimidated, we played very good defense.”
The team feels confident that it will still bounce back from this stretch of losses and is looking forward to what lies ahead of them.
“When you play like that against such a good team it gives you so much confidence knowing that the rest of the teams you will play; we have the capabilities to beat every team,” senior guard Alyssa Karel said. Karel finished as the second leading scorer for the Badgers with 16 points.
The Badgers’ tough schedule will not get any easier as they will travel to Stillwater for a showdown with the Oklahoma State Cowgirls (7-0) Sunday.
The game will mark Wisconsin’s second game in the Big Ten/Big 12 Challenge this season. Wisconsin lost an overtime heartbreaker to Kansas 83-96 earlier this season.
The Cowgirls are led by sophomore forward Toni Young, who is averaging 16.5 points and 9.7 rebounds per game.
