Just two weeks prior, the Wisconsin women's basketball team upset visiting Michigan State 54-51 to knock the Spartans out of first place in the Big Ten.
History repeated itself Friday afternoon as the seventh-seeded Badgers booted the second-seeded Spartans from the Big Ten Tournament in Indianapolis, 56-50 to advance to just its second tournament semifinal in school history.
""We played better against them tonight than we have in the first two outings,"" UW head coach Lisa Stone said. ""It's tough to play a team three times. We all know each other. You know their personality. You know their sets. It's executing. It's getting physical and getting the rebounds and doing the little things. And I thought we did a good job in the second half making sure we did that.""
Wisconsin's sophomore forward tandem of Tara Steinbauer and Lin Zastrow headlined the score sheet, totaling 15 and 11 points respectively. Feisty junior guard Rae Lin D'Alie also added 10 points, a career-high eight rebounds and a game-high six steals.
The Spartans ran out to a 21-9 lead in the first half behind a surprising barrage from the outside. Then, Lin D'Alie took over, picking up four of her six steals to pull the Badgers to within six, down 26-20 at the half.
""It was a matter of time,"" Stone said. ""We shot 26 percent in the first half and we're only down six. That's a lot because of our defense … I thought Rae Lin was unbelievable up on the ball. Our gap defense was very, very stellar, and everybody did what they had to do.""
The momentum remained with Wisconsin, despite a somewhat sluggish offense at times. The Badgers were able to rely on their defense to pull off the quarterfinal upset. And that defense Stone has always taken great pride in.
""It's so easy to pressure the ball when you know the four people behind you are going to be in your gap and have your help,"" D'Alie said.
Saturday was the Badgers' third game in three straight days, and unfortunately for Wisconsin, the Big Ten Tournament Cinderella slipper shattered in the semifinals as the Badgers were blasted by Purdue, 70-56.
""You don't want to admit that (We were tired), but it was our third game in three days,"" Stone said. ""We don't want to take anything away from Purdue and we don't want to make excuses.""
Purdue advanced to its third straight Big Ten title game after winning the last two.
Wisconsin hung around for most of the first half, using a 21-9 run to take a 30-24 lead at the 3:10 mark. Sophomore guard Alyssa Karel was hot from the field, scoring 13 of her 18 points before the break.
Purdue responded with a 25-3 run spanning from the end of the first half to midway through the second to inflate the Boilermaker lead to 49-33.
The Boilers' inside game was too much for Wisconsin, as Lindsay Wisdom-Hylton and Danielle Campbell recorded 17 and 16 points, respectively.
Karel's 18 points were a game-high, and Steinbauer added 15 points and seven rebounds for the Badgers.
Wisconsin will wait until March 16 to see whether it has done enough to earn a bid to the NCAA tournament. If stiffed by the selection committee, the Badgers will most likely earn a WNIT bid, which would be the third invitation of Stone's career at UW.
—The Associated Press contributed to this report.
