Finally.
After several home games that the Wisconsin women's basketball team lost on its last defensive possession, it eked out a 54-51 victory over once league-leading Michigan State Sunday.
And yet again, it went down to the wire.
With 43 seconds remaining, the Badgers left the timeout huddle on defense, up 52-51. Spartan center Allyssa DeHaan missed a 17-foot jumper from the wing. Wisconsin freshman guard Jade Davis was fouled on the rebound, sending her to the line for a pressure bonus free throw.
""I thought about the free throws like they were the start of the second half, that they really weren't going to mean anything,"" Davis said. ""I just went up there and thought of it as practice.""
After hitting a pair of threes at the 10-minute mark to put the Badgers up by six, Davis stepped to the line and coolly hit both free throws to put UW up 54-51 with 25.4 seconds left.
""They were big free throws,"" Wisconsin head coach Lisa Stone said. ""She gave us a tremendous spark. I told our freshmen, ‘You are no longer freshmen.' We're far beyond that right now … They have just done a significant job for us when called upon.""
The Badgers gave up several opportunities in the waning seconds of the game, as Michigan State got a trio of 3-point shots off, including one from sophomore forward Kalisha Keane that was all but down.
""You're so frantic and want to grab that rebound so bad, but we got lucky,"" sophomore forward Tara Steinbauer said. ""But we fought hard down the stretch and definitely deserved this one.""
""Two of the three were pretty open and good looks at it and they just didn't fall,"" Michigan State head coach Suzy Merchant said. ""But it really shouldn't have gotten to that point.""
Wisconsin (6-11 Big Ten, 16-12 overall) pressured the Spartan guards, causing several midcourt second-half turnovers, thanks in large part to the quick hands and gnat-like defense by junior guard Rae Lin D'Alie.
""We struggled against their pressure at Michigan State,"" Stone said. ""I thought Rae Lin set the tone defensively by picking up pressure and causing turnovers.""
Merchant said Wisconsin outplayed them, especially on the defensive end.
""[Wisconsin was] more aggressive,"" Merchant said. ""I really felt like they came out of the gates and we knew they would, we just didn't respond very well.""
Michigan State (12-4, 19-8), which used its size in the last matchup in East Lansing, was stifled by Wisconsin's pack defense and was held to just 19 points from its post players.
""The difference for us was our post play was not as strong as it needed to be,"" Merchant said. ""That always helps relieve a little bit of the pressure on the guards, when you have people in there scoring.""
Wisconsin junior guard Alyssa Karel led the Badgers with 12 points, with Davis, Steinbauer and sophomore guard/forward Lin Zastrow each adding 11.
Michigan State was led by redshirt freshman guard Lykendra Johnson's 12 points, while Keane and the 6'9"" DeHaan both added 11.
Wisconsin's sole senior, Caitlin Gibson, got the nod on Senior Day, picking up two rebounds on 0-for-1 shooting in eight minutes of play.
The season-record crowd of 14,657 was invited to ""Think Pink"" at the Kohl Center Sunday. Both teams sported pink shooting shirts to honor the breast cancer research fund of the late former N.C. State head coach Kay Yow.
Wisconsin will finish its regular season at league-leading Ohio State Thursday before traveling to Indianapolis for the Big Ten Tournament in March. The Badgers are currently in seventh place in the Big Ten and can secure that seed with a win over the Buckeyes in Columbus.
