In a very tight game, the outcome often comes down to the little things.
The Badgers (12-10, 7-3) trailed by as many as 11 in the first half and led late in the second half by as many as 12, but even a 23-point swing wasn’t enough for Wisconsin to stop Michigan State (19-3, 7-2) from prevailing in a 73-70 overtime thriller Thursday night at the Kohl Center.
The incessant shooting of Michigan State’s standout senior forward, Kalisha Keane, might have hurt Wisconsin the most. Despite a fairly poor shooting performance throughout most of regulation, Keane continued to fire away until it seemed that if she just kept shooting, one would go in eventually.
Unfortunately for the Badgers, that shot finally came with 13 seconds left in regulation. The Badgers were leading 60-57, but the triple sent the game into overtime after Wisconsin missed two last-second opportunities right underneath the basket that even MSU head coach Suzy Merchant attributed to luck.
“Kalisha Keane has made a number of game-winning shots this year, did it again, did it to us today,” UW head coach Lisa Stone said.
Prior to the game-tying basket, Keane had been 7-of-19 from the floor and an uncharacteristic 2-of-9 from behind the three-point line. She would end up scoring seven more points in overtime and finished the game with a game-high 28 points on 9-of-23 shooting, including 4-for-11 from deep.
“She understood she took some bad shots,” Merchant said. “She knows she is our option; we want her to shoot the ball. I thought she did a much better job late in the second half, as well as into overtime of doing a better job of selecting opportunities for her to shoot instead of quick shots.”
Keane was also unflinching down the stretch despite playing with four fouls with 1:22 still remaining in regulation. She never came off the floor, and despite Wisconsin’s best efforts to attack her and try to get her to foul out, she played with the composure that has helped lead Michigan State to the nation’s No. 11 ranking.
Zastrow proves to be the missing link in last matchup
The first time Wisconsin played Michigan State, the Badgers were absolutely killed on the glass, 45-21, in a 19-point bludgeoning.
A major contributor to that disparity was the absence of senior forward Lin Zastrow, who led the Badgers with a career-high 23 points and also a game-high nine rebounds. She dominated the blocks, and it appeared part of the gameplan was to get her involved early and often. Wisconsin fed Zastrow the ball down low the first several trips down the floor, and she converted the Badgers’ first two field goals.
Despite the strong inside play, this matchup appeared to be headed in a very similar direction with Michigan State out-rebounding Wisconsin 19-11 in the first half, only one by Zastrow. However, Wisconsin shored up the defense in the second half and played relatively even with the Spartans, who still edged them out, 21-19, in the second half and overtime combined.
Stone didn’t miss the opportunity to point out how big of a difference Zastrow made to this game compared to the first contest in East Lansing, and even the opposing coach had words of high value for the senior forward.
“She is physical. I think she is one of their best passers on the team,” Merchant said. “Not many [centers] really [understand] the game and have that high of an IQ and the ability to pass the ball that she does. I think that is a weapon to her game that I am not sure she gets enough credit for, as well as her defense.”
Zastrow was obviously disheartened after such a tough loss, but she recognized what has to be done next.
“This will go away if we win at Indiana, so we have to come tomorrow, prepare and be ready to go.”
