In a back-and-forth battle for the second half, the Wisconsin women's basketball team (29-15) was eliminated from the Women's National Invitation Tournament in a season-ending 56-51 loss to St. Bonaventure University Bonnies (23-10).
""It was a tale of two halves today,"" UW head coach Lisa Stone said. ""...We're disappointed in our second half. It was like Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde a little bit.""
Going into the half, the Badgers led 32-18 and had 13 defensive rebounds while shooting 13-of-21 for 62 percent from the field. Sophomore forward Tara Steinbauer, who scored a career-high in points against Kentucky last Sunday, shot 5-of-5 from the field in the first half, totaling 15 on the game.
""They've got a very veteran squad that is hungry for their first post season experience,"" Stone said ""... They wanted it more [the second half].""
The Bonnies turned their first half blues around and shot 13-of-24 for 54 percent in the second half and held Wisconsin to just 20.7 percent from the field. Ashley Edwards led the Bonnie offense with nine points while Dana Mitchell added eight.
""We were really disappointed with our first half,"" SBU head coach Jim Crowley said. ""Wisconsin definitely came out really prepared and very confident offensively.""
The Badgers, who faced St. Bonaventure for the first time in school history Thursday, struggled more in the second half offensively and allowed St. Bonaventure to pull ahead 51-49 with 3:18 left in the game. SBU scored 38 of their 56 points in the second half. The Badgers turned the ball over 15 times in the game compared with SBU's 14 and collected 30 boards against the Bonnies' 40.
""They came down [in the second half], got threes, went inside, went outside first half and jammed it in us inside the second half and we didn't react as we needed to,"" Stone said.
Teah Gant, who finished the night with a career and team-high 20 points, hit a shot with 1:10 to go to pull Wisconsin within two. However, St. Bonaventure's Dana Mitchell sunk two free throws to pull the Bonnies ahead 55-51.
""It's definitely the type of loss that leaves a bad taste in your mouth, and you know it just motivates us going into post season work outs to turn it around for next year,"" Steinbauer said.
Despite the tough end to the season, Stone lauded the team's earlier season victories over teams like Baylor and Marquette.
""It was a terrific season of over-achieving where this young squad gained an identity of defense and rebounding,"" Stone said. ""We're looking forward to the off-season and preparing for next season.""
The Bonnies will now move on to the quarterfinals of the WNIT and will have to host South Florida (24-10) Sunday at 1 p.m. ET.
