The 2010-2011 Wisconsin women’s basketball season has had its fair share of nail-biting finishes that concluded with the Badgers on the proverbial short end of the stick. Wednesday night saw Wisconsin fight through multiple forms of adversity and pull off a much-needed win against the Indiana Hoosiers 65-57.
The contest began with a furious pace that saw Wisconsin score 16 points before even missing a shot. The impressive run would end with a 19-5 lead seven minutes into the game, but the Hoosiers finally woke up going on several small runs before the end of the half to make it 30-26 at the break.
Turnovers were huge a problem for Wisconsin, committing 20 through the course of the game and a key reason as to why Indiana was able to crawl back and even take a four-point lead about eight minutes into the second half.
The Badgers needed someone to step up and it was senior forward Lin Zastrow who took control of the game, scoring 15 points in the second half and finishing with 21 points on 8-of-12 shooting, including a perfect 5-of-5 from the free throw line. She also had a game-high five assists, one shy of her career high.
“She is one of the best five players in the conference,” Indiana head coach Felisha Legette-Jack said. “It is not a secret about Lin Zastrow. She is an unbelievable player.”
Indiana entered the game boasting its own star player, the Big Ten’s third leading scorer at 19.2 points per game, senior guard Jori Davis. Unfortunately for Indiana, Wisconsin was able to showcase a Davis of its own, Jade, a lockdown defender.
Jade Davis won the first half battle, holding Jori Davis to two points from the free throw line and forcing her to shoot 0-of-8 from the field.
Second half star power was the common theme for both teams. Just like Zastrow, Jori locked on in the second half and seemed to win part two of the Davis vs. Davis matchup, converting seven of her 13 field goal attempts to finish with a total of 17 points.
Wisconsin needed every single one of Zastrow’s points in order to prevent another late game fold like the ones that seem to have haunted the Badgers this season. With the loss of senior forward Tara Steinbauer to a torn ACL last week, carrying the scoring load may be something Zastrow will have to continue doing come tournament play.
“I thought Lin responded in a big way in the second half,” Wisconsin head coach Lisa Stone said. “She took over when we needed her to.”
Wisconsin had the added help of guards Alyssa Karel and Davis, scoring 12 and 10 points respectively, but most impressive was Karel’s game high and career-tying day on the glass, corralling eight rebounds. Rebounding was something Karel hinted earlier in the week was something she might try to improve with the loss of Steinbauer, and it appeared the ball wanted to bounce her way Wednesday night.
“I was sitting on the ground at one point and I looked up and the ball landed in my lap,” Karel said. “I was just trying to maybe be a little more aggressive here and there going after the boards and maybe trying to pick up something we lost in Tara.”
It was the second game in a row and only the fourth time all season Davis has scored 10 or more points in a game, and she continues to look more confident when her number is called to shoot the ball.
“My shot is really coming together,” Davis said. “It’s taken a long long time definitely but the confidence has always been there. It’s just that I have to step up and take the big shots sometimes and it kind of relieves a lot of pressure off Lin and Alyssa when I am able to step up and take a shot. It gives them more open shots.”
The collective effort and solid free throw shooting down the stretch, 18-of-22 for the game, allowed Wisconsin to fight back and take the lead for good at 49-47, so the seniors were able to walk off the Kohl Center floor for the final time with a victory.
“They were not going to let each other lose this game today,” Stone said. “They really hung together and got over the hump and made the free throws down the stretch.”
