In their first and only road game in the month of December, the Badgers women's basketball team suffered their worst loss of the season. Kansas' stifling defense carried the Jayhawks to a 73-44 victory over Wisconsin in a Big Ten/Big 12 Challenge contest on Thursday in Lawrence, Kan.
The Badgers looked like they would keep it competitive early, only trailing 15-13 halfway through the first half. But the Jayhawks promptly went on a 12-0 run to take a 27-13 lead with 6:50 left in the half and led comfortably for the rest of the game.
Wisconsin (4-6 overall) was unable to get into a groove offensively in historic Allen Fieldhouse. The only offensive bright spot for the team was from three-point range, shooting 8-for-19 from beyond the arc. Sophomore guard Morgan Paige and junior guard Taylor Wurtz each had a trio of three-pointers, and the Badgers as a whole actually sunk more threes than twos in the game. Wisconsin could only muster 7-for-34 shooting on two-pointers, a 20.6 percentage.
Wisconsin head coach Bobbie Kelsey blamed the poor offensive performance on an inability to make baskets.
We didn't play well tonight, we couldn't hit shots," Kelsey said. "We had some good looks, just couldn't knock them down."
Kansas (8-1) mostly had its way offensively, as well. The Jayhawks nearly set a program record for fewest turnovers in a game, only giving the ball away six times, one more than the record. Four Jayhawks finished with double-digit points, and Kansas made 15 of 20 free throw attempts on the evening. Unlike Wisconsin, the Jayhawks did most of their damage offensively inside the arc, finishing with 30 points in the paint and only four three-pointers made.
Points off of turnovers also proved costly for the Badgers. Kansas routinely turned defense into offense, scoring 25 points off of Wisconsin's 16 turnovers.
For the Badgers, senior forward Anya Covington had nine rebounds on the evening, and Wurtz accumulated seven rebounds of her own. It wasn't enough to win the rebounding battle, however, as the Jayhawks edged the Badgers 41-35 on the boards.
The Jayhawks may have been playing with extra intensity against Wisconsin after suffering their first loss of the season on Sunday, falling to Alabama on the road.
Kansas' victory gave the Big 12 a 5-4 lead in the Big Ten/Big 12 Challenge with two games remaining in the event, which is in its second year. The Big Ten won the inaugural challenge between the two conferences with a 7-5 record.
Wisconsin will be back in action at home Sunday afternoon against Drake. Tip off is 2 p.m. at the Kohl Center for the Badgers' last game before a 12-day hiatus for final exams.
-UWBadgers.com contributed to this report.
