The Wisconsin women's basketball team (9-3 Big Ten, 14-10 overall) dominated Northwestern (5-7, 16-9) on Thursday night. Frustrating a high-powered Wildcat offensive all night, the Badgers held the Wildcats to only 41 points on just 17/53 from the field. in a 62-41 victory.
Wisconsin's seniors led the charge once again as guard Alyssa Karel and forward Lin Zastrow combined for 36 points on 13 of 19 shooting. Karel had a game-high 19 points and Zastrow added 17 points, 14 coming in the second half. Sophomore guard Taylor Wurtz also contributed 13 points including three three-pointers as part of a first half run that saw the Badgers go on a 13-0 stretch at one point.
But the ultimate key to the Badger win was holding Northwestern's leader, senior center Amy Jaeschke, in check. Coming into the game averaging 22.7 points and nine rebounds a game, Jaeschke was held to just 15 and eight and was frustrated by a physical Wisconsin defensive effort.
""For Kendall [Hackney] to go 2-for-11 and Brittany [Orban] 1-for-5, who have both shot the ball really well all year, and they play off of Amy,"" Northwestern head coach Joe McKeown said after the game. ""[Jaeschke's] a great player. She's going to get double-teamed the rest of year, so we need to do a better job of that.""
Wisconsin came out strong in the first half, shooting an impressive 63.6 percent from the three-point line. With two threes a piece from Karel and Wurtz, the Badgers built an impressive lead as they went up 29-13 with 3:49 left in the first half.
""The fact that our guards are knocking shots down really helps our inside game,"" UW head coach Lisa Stone said.
However, Northwestern finished the half on a 10-4 run, capped off by a buzzer-beater three-pointer from senior guard Beth Marshall. Seemingly out of the game early on, the Wildcats went into the locker room with plenty of momentum.
The second half started out a little slow for the Badgers, as Northwestern worked its way within six points as the Badger lead shrunk to as little as 33-27. But after Stone took a timeout, the team woke up and never looked back. After struggling with just three points in the first half, Zastrow put the team on her back as she scored the first 10 UW points of the half, including a highlight-worthy four-point play.
""I tell you what I am really proud of the team, they responded,"" Stone said. ""Northwestern is a good team, since the last time we played them they are 2-0. They swept Ohio State, they went 2-0 against Ohio State who beat Purdue tonight pretty handily, and that is a significant win for them.""
Now sitting aside Penn State at the second position in the Big Ten race, the Badgers have the weekend off, with their next game, a huge road match against No. 20 Iowa Wednesday night.
