The Wisconsin women's basketball team (9-5 Big Ten, 14-12 overall) wasn't able to overcome a 12-point deficit, as they lost in a heartbreaking Senior Day game, 68-66. Michigan (9-5, 16-10) was able to hold off the Badgers, as junior guard Courtney Boylan scored the game winning shot with eight seconds left in the game.
""[Boylan is] just relentless. She's a little undersized but she's tough. She takes it at you like she's six feet, so just that toughness really,"" senior guard Alyssa Karel said.
Junior guard Jade Davis led the Badgers with a career-high 14 points. All nine Badgers who played contributed to outscoring Michigan 41-34 in the second half.
Senior guard Lin Zastrow played all 40 minutes of the game and had a double-double, 11 points and 10 rebounds. Sophomore guard Taylor Wurtz also had a good game on the boards, as she racked up 10 rebounds as well.
Wisconsin was down for the majority of the game, as they only lead once in the first half.
The Badgers were sparked by a three-pointer from Davis with 4:07 left in the second half to give Wisconsin a 59-58 lead. Davis had four three-pointers in the game.
Despite a four-point lead with under three minutes left in the second half, the Wolverines were able to outscore Wisconsin 8-2 in the last two minutes.
""We are a second half team,"" head coach Lisa Stone said. ""We talked about it a halftime and I knew we would give a valiant effort there is not a player on our team that didn't leave themselves on the floor. They laid it out there and played very well.""
Wisconsin couldn't seem to stop Boylan, who scored six of the Wolverines last eight points. After Boylan tied the game at 64-64, Zastrow hit a jumper with a minute left to put the Badgers up by two.
However, the Badger defense couldn't hold off Boylan, as she added four points, including the game winner. The Badgers had a good look at the end of the half, with a shot from Davis that fell just a bit short.
""I thought Jade's [Davis] shot was going in. [It] sat up in the air for a long time, I thought that was going down,"" Stone said.
There are many positives to be taken out of the game for the Badgers, as they only recorded eight turnovers.
Wisconsin went 7-for-7 from the free-throw line, and finished with a 43.1 shooting percentage. Davis shot 57.1 percent from the three-point line.
""[We] shot the ball really well."" Stone said. ""We ran a spread offense, four-guard offense rotation and did well offensively. We just needed to get some stops, and those last six possessions we didn't get stops.""
The Badgers return to action on Wednesday at 7 p.m. when they welcome Indiana to the Kohl Center for their final home game of the season game of the season.
