It's safe to say that after the Wisconsin women's basketball team's performance in this past weekend's Big Ten Tournament, the team is playing their best basketball of the season.
Friday night against Purdue, it was more than enough, as the Badgers trounced the Boilermakers for the second time this season and for the first time ever in the Big Ten Tournament, 73-51. Saturday night in the tournament semifinals, however, Wisconsin's best was good enough for about 35 minutes of play, but the Badgers couldn't quite overcome the offensive juggernaut that is Ohio State, falling for the third time this season to the Buckeyes, 82-73.
On Friday against Purdue, the Badgers came out strong from the beginning and never let up. Considering Wisconsin had not beaten the Boilermakers in 16 straight attempts prior to this season and that Purdue has made the NCAA Tournament 16 years in a row, the beatdown that Wisconsin put on Purdue has to be considered a monumental victory in program history.
Wisconsin featured four players in double figures against the Boilermakers, with junior guard Alyssa Karel leading the way with 14. Additionally, senior guard Rae Lin D'Alie scored 13, while junior forwards Tara Steinbauer and Lin Zastrow added 10 each.
The Badgers shot over 50 percent in the game, including eight 3-pointers. Additionally, Wisconsin tallied 10 steals on the evening and forced 19 Purdue turnovers, directly resulting in 15 points for the Badgers.
That game gave the team a great deal of confidence and momentum that carried over to the next night, as Wisconsin met the Big Ten regular-season champion Buckeyes. Against Ohio State, the Badgers continued to shoot lights-out, hitting 55 percent from the floor in the first half and nearly 46 percent overall. Wisconsin also converted seven 3-point attempts and shot a respectable 14-of-19 from the line.
On the night, Karel put forth the finest game of her career, scoring 31 points, including a perfect 5-for-5 from behind the arc. The junior played all but two minutes and was a catalyst from the beginning, never letting up for the remainder of the game. Assisting Karel in the stats column Saturday was Zastrow, who scored 14, and senior guard Teah Gant, who added 12.
Despite leading by as many as seven at one point, and for the vast majority of the game overall, the Badgers just could not overcome the mighty Buckeyes. Big Ten Player of the Year Jantel Lavender scored 27 points, while Samantha Prahalis contributed 29 points, including 11-for-11 shooting from the line.
Overall, Ohio State went to the line 38 times Saturday evening and converted on 34 of those chances.
For a Badger team that had its sights set on winning the Big Ten Tournament, the results of this past weekend are surely disappointing for the players and coaches. The team now waits to find out if their hard work all season has paid off in the form of a bid into the NCAA Tournament.
The selections will be announced Monday, March 15, at 6 p.m., live on ESPN.
—uwbadgers.com contributed to this report.
