Another game, another clunker.

Unfortunately for the Wisconsin women’s basketball team this season, wins have been scarce this season and games like Wednesday night’s 76-56 blowout loss against Illinois have occurred far too often.

For three quarters of the game, the Badgers and Fighting Illini played an even contest, but during the second quarter, the Illini outscored the Badgers 25-7 in what proved to be the deciding stretch of the game.

Illinois relied on sophomore center Chatrice White, who scored 20 of her 28 points in the first half and was nearly unstoppable from everywhere on the court. White was 4-of-6 from deep and controlled the paint on both ends of the floor with 12 rebounds and three blocks.

With White drawing most of the Badgers’ focus on the defensive end, forward Alex Wittinger was able to get into a groove and score 16 of her own points on the night. Their combination down low allowed the Illini shooters to get open in space and shoot 50 percent from three, which proved too high for the Badgers to overcome.

“[White’s] done a lot more damage,” Wisconsin head coach Bobbie Kelsey said. “On 16 shots and she gets 28 points, Alex Wittinger came in and did some damage. We had to go small, but they took advantage of our lack of size on the inside. You’ve got to have a big on White, and that leaves a smaller guard on Wittinger.”

For the Badgers, their lone bright spot was senior Dakota Whyte’s performance.

With just four regular season games remaining in her collegiate career, the senior notched a career-high 31 points Wednesday and carried the weight of the Wisconsin offense for the majority of the game.

“Definitely trying to take the load and do for my teammates what they couldn’t do,” Whyte said. “They couldn’t find the basket, so I tried to take it upon myself to help at least. I’ve been there, so it was just good that I could actually hit my shots tonight.”

As has been the case for the majority of the season, Wisconsin’s big three seniors — Whyte, Nicole Bauman and Michala Johnson — were not able to get going at the same time. Both Bauman and Johnson, who came into the game with three straight double doubles, struggled to deal with the pressure of being the focal point of the opposing team’s defense.

Bauman, who has struggled mightily over the last three games was unable to find her stroke and was 2-9 from three on the night. Over her last three games, she is 5-24 from behind the arc and will need to pick up her performance for the Badgers to make a late season run.

“It’s just one of those spells,” Kelsey said. “She hasn’t had many in her career. I can’t remember her having this many, but there’s a lot of pressure on her because they do chase her around. She’s not just open.”

The Badgers return to the court Saturday, as they take on Northwestern in their final home game of the season.