The University of Wisconsin–Madison women’s basketball team unveiled their revamped roster and started their season with a 62-51 victory over in-state rival University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee to earn their seventh consecutive opening day win.
Despite losing their top three scorers from the previous season, UW began their first game resembling the 2022-2023 team that finished the regular season winning four of their last five games.
The Badgers outscored Milwaukee 20-9 in a dominant first quarter that saw the team shoot 7-of-11 from the field, and 3-of-5 from deep. Sophomore Serah Williams tallied nine of those 20 points while shooting a perfect 3-of-3 from the field.
Williams’ promising game — and season — was put in jeopardy when the former All-Big Ten freshman hit the ground hard after trying to block Panthers’ guard Jada Williams midway through the second quarter.
Fortunately for Wisconsin, Williams returned to the court after a brief visit to the locker room. Although the sophomore played 15 minutes in the second half, she admitted she had to ‘laugh the pain away.’
“It definitely inhibited me a little bit and how aggressive I could have played,” Williams said after the game.
Heading into the break, Badgers led Milwaukee 36-23 behind a 12-point, 10-rebound first half from Williams. Sophomore Sania Copeland — who appeared in 23 games for Wisconsin last season — had eight points of her own in the first half, including two 3-pointers on two attempts.
The Panthers battled back in the third quarter with an 8-0 run to cut the deficit to single digits. All eight points came compliments of Iowa native Kendall Nead, who would finish with 18 tallies, which tied Williams for lead scorer. Bucky responded by not allowing a Panther field goal the rest of the quarter and ended the third leading 48-33.
A seemingly insurmountable UW lead was quickly narrowed to eight when Milwaukee rattled off a 7-0 run to begin the fourth quarter. The Panthers kept battling and eventually cut the Wisconsin advantage to just five with 1:06 left to play. Despite allowing 18 points in the fourth, the Badgers would ultimately make their free-throws and win the game 62-51.
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Both teams struggled in different aspects during the game, but turnovers were a major recurring issue for both teams throughout the matchup. UW’s 26 was eight more than their previous season average, with Williams alone turning the ball over eight times.
“26 turnovers is entirely too many for us,” UW head coach Marisa Moseley said after the game. “Last game in our exhibition we had 11 so definitely something we want to clean up.”
Milwaukee also committed 28 turnovers on the night with seven players tallying at least three.
Despite the offensive shortcomings following the first quarter, Moseley was impressed with the defensive effort from her team.
“Really proud that we were able to force [28] turnovers and I think that we can continue to get better with that,” Moseley said. “To hold them to 30% from the field is awesome but I think we also put them at the line 17 times. So to me, I just think ‘imagine the score of the game had we not given them 11 points from the free throw line.’”
The Badgers will play the second game of a three-game homestand Thursday against Western Illinois University, who finished last season 10-20.
