It was a tale of two halves on Tuesday evening, as the Wisconsin Badgers women's basketball team (2-5 overall) hosted Eastern Illinois (1-6 overall). Wisconsin shook off a sluggish first half to blow out the Panthers in a 78-52 victory.
\I think our basketball team did a very good job in the second half of playing a very intense game."" said Badger Head Coach Jane Albright.
In the first half of the game, the Badgers looked anything but inspired. UW allowed the Panthers to shoot 48 percent from the field in the first 20 minutes and many of the Eastern Illinois points came off of back screens.
""I thought our defensive effort in the first half was extremely poor,"" Albright said.
The Badgers entered the second half rejuvenated, picking up the slack on defense. The Badgers used an aggressive defense to force 21 turnovers, which resulted in an additional 24 points for UW.
Stephanie Rich led the Badgers with 14 points, dishing three times z and pulling down four rebounds. Rich excited the Kohl Center faithful with her range, going two for six on treys. Emily Ashbaugh dominated the paint, scoring 13 and grabbing 12 rebounds, marking her fifth double-double of the season. In order to contain the 6-5 junior center, the severely undersized Panthers often defended Ashbaugh with two players.
The Badgers face Drake this Saturday, a team that made the Sweet Sixteen in the 2002 NCAA tournament.
