After winning its previous two contests by a combined 47 points, the Wisconsin women's basketball team hit a wall Wednesday night.
That wall, painted in black and gold, was the University of Iowa and a Hawkeyes team no current Badger player has ever beat. Following a 59-44 loss in Carver-Hawkeye Arena, Wisconsin (9-4 Big Ten, 14-11 overall) is now 2-9 in its last 11 contests against Iowa (8-6, 20-7).
The Badgers and Hawkeyes both entered the game stagnant. It wasn't until the 8:36 mark in the first half that Iowa finally broke into double-digit scoring, taking a 10-9 lead over Wisconsin.
From there, however, the Hawkeyes woke up and lit up the scoreboard, while the Badgers remained groggy at best, as Iowa finished the half on a 14-2 run.
The 11 points Wisconsin scored in the first half ties a school record for fewest in program history.
The Badgers made the game interesting in the second half, pulling to within four points of the Hawkeyes twice, including a small run that narrowed the gap to 44-40 with just over eight minutes remaining.
""We came out in the game and boom, boom, boom,"" Stone said. ""We cut the lead to four a couple of times and came up empty.""
At that point, however, Wisconsin went cold again and did not score a point for almost four minutes. The Badgers also ended the game with zero points in the final 3:20.
Wisconsin also lost a key contributor in the loss. Senior forward Tara Steinbauer, who had played in 110 consecutive games for the Badgers heading into Wednesday, went down with a leg injury just two minutes into the game. The team will know more about the injury and Steinbauer's status Thursday following a doctor's evaluation.
Although Wisconsin sits in the basement of the Big Ten when it comes to points scored (60.4), the Badgers found new lows Wednesday. The team's 44 points were the fewest for Wisconsin this season. The previous low of 47 came in a win against Minnesota Jan. 9.
Senior guard Alyssa Karel was the only Badger in double figures Wednesday night. She finished with 15 points on 7-of-17 shooting. Senior forward Lin Zastrow finished with nine points, snapping a six game, double-digit scoring streak.
""This is a tough one when you look at the schedule,"" Stone said. ""Our team was so focused. I feel bad for them that we couldn't get this done. But credit Iowa, they did a great job. We just can't let one loss turn into two.""
Wisconsin, a team with a knack for resiliency this year, will have to once again recover quickly as they turn around for a matchup this Saturday at home against Michigan. The Badgers will be looking for revenge after the Wolverines handed Wisconsin a 16-point loss Jan. 16 in Ann Arbor.
—uwbadgers.com contributed to this report.
