The University of Wisconsin women’s basketball team (13-17, 4-14 Big Ten) entered the Big Ten Tournament as the No. 14 seed where they played No. 11 Iowa Hawkeyes (21-9, 10-8) Wednesday night. Despite Wisconsin’s late season wins, the team fell to the Hawkeyes squad with a final score of 81-54.
Wednesday’s matchup marked the second meeting between the two teams this year, both coming within the last seven days.
The Badger’s squad had an even share of the ball throughout the game. Junior Serah Williams led the team in scoring with 22 points. This marked the fourth time in the last six games Williams scored over 20 points.
The Hawkeyes’ bench was the difference maker in the game, with five players scoring off the bench. Hawkeye senior Lucy Olsen led the team in scoring with 19 points.
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The Badgers scored first with a swift 3-point jumper from graduate student Natalie Leuzinger. The Hawkeyes responded with two scores of their own. After a steal and score from sophomore Carter McCray and a jumper from graduate student Tess Myers, the Badgers maintained a 9-6 lead through the first half of the first quarter.
After picking up defensive intensity, Iowa took the lead with a 3-point make from junior Taylor McCabe bringing the score to 11-9. Iowa quickly took control of the game, shutting the Badgers out the rest of the quarter and going on a run to put the score at 25-9 heading into the second quarter.
The Badgers kept fighting, starting the second quarter with a 3-point make from junior Ronnie Porter and back-to-back jumpers from Williams. The high intensity and pressure continued from the Iowa defense. Despite better scoring from the Badgers in the second quarter, the Hawkeyes were tough to stop, shooting 66% from the 3-point line in the second quarter and breaking out to a 43-23 lead.
The second half was much the same, with both teams trading baskets throughout. The Badgers cut Iowa’s lead to 16 points in the third quarter. Wisconsin continued its efforts in the fourth quarter but was unable to make the comeback with a final score of 81-54.
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Despite their early exit from the Big Ten Tournament, the future for Wisconsin is bright with Williams and Porter returning for their senior seasons. The Badgers also have a chance to qualify for the Women’s Basketball Invitation Tournament, a 32-team tournament featuring the top teams that didn’t qualify for March Madness.
Last season, the Badgers made it to the Great Eight of the Women’s National Invitation Tournament, a tournament with a similar structure to the WBIT. But, this season the NCAA created the WBIT to effectively replace the WNIT as the secondary tournament for women’s basketball.
The draw for the WBIT will be held on Selection Sunday, Mar. 16, immediately following the draw for March Madness.