The University of Wisconsin women’s basketball team (8-19, 3-12 Big Ten) was unable to keep it close with No. 14 Iowa (21-5, 13-2) and suffered a 91-61 loss in Iowa City Feb. 15.
The Badgers, fueled by Julie Pospisilova’s five opening points, jumped out to an early 12-5 lead halfway through the first quarter. The Hawkeyes, led by double-digit performances by Caitlin Clark and Monika Czinano in the first quarter, responded with a 14-0 run to lead 26-16 in the opening frame.
The Hawkeyes, coached by Lisa Bluder, never looked back and opened the second quarter on a 12-0 run to lengthen their lead by 19 points. Marisa Moseley’s squad was unable to find a solid footing at the end of the half and found themselves trailing 48-28 heading into the locker room.
Wisconsin put together their best performance in the third quarter, shooting seven of 15 from the field for 20 points out of the locker room. Avery LaBarbera led the charge for the cardinal and white with seven points in the third quarter. She shot two of three and knocked down all three of her free throw attempts in that span. Despite an improved performance by the Badgers, Iowa continued their offensive onslaught to increase their lead to 73-48 heading into the final frame.
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With the game out of reach, the Hawkeyes kept their foot on the gas through the first half of the fourth quarter to reach their largest lead of the day at 33 points. Bluder substituted her starters with five minutes left in the contest and Moseley followed suit, putting fresh faces on the court for the last three minutes of the game. At the final buzzer, Iowa completed their season sweep against the Badgers with a dominant 91-61 victory.
Iowa’s top-ranked scoring offense proved to be too much for the Badgers throughout the game. The Hawkeyes finished the contest shooting 64.3% from the field, including 42.9% from deep. Wisconsin’s turnover woes continued in this game — Moseley’s team allowed the black and gold to score 25 points off 16 Badger turnovers.
Wisconsin was led by Pospisilova, who turned in her fifth double-digit performance with 16 points. Maty Wilke was the only other double-digit scorer for the Badgers, finishing the game scoring 10 points.
Iowa was led by the Naismith front-runner Clark, who led the Hawkeyes with 24 points, eight assists and six rebounds. Clark’s sensational performance pushed her to become the first Big Ten women’s player to rank in the top 10 in career scoring and assists. Monika Czinano finished with 19 points and also added six boards in the contest. McKenna Warnock rounded out Iowa’s double-digit scorers with 16 points and also tallied four assists.
Wisconsin comes back to the Kohl Center to face Rutgers Monday, Feb. 20.
