The Wisconsin women’s basketball team got exactly the bounce-back it was looking for.
After a double-overtime loss to Ohio State Thursday, the Badgers (3-8 Big Ten, 11-13 overall) were able to overcome Indiana (1-10, 10-14) 65-53 at the Kohl Center Sunday afternoon. Junior guard Morgan Paige had a team-high 17 points and 40 minutes on the court, while junior forward Cassie Rochel tied a career-high 5 assists, along with 4 blocks and 3 steals.
The Badgers challenged the Hoosiers early defensively, holding their leading scorer, senior forward Aulani Sinclair, to just 3 points.
Midway through the first half, the score was tied at 19 before freshman guard Nicole Bauman’s 3-pointer opened up Wisconsin’s offense to an 11-0 run. The Badgers led 44-30 at the half, tying their season-high first-half scoring record. They shot 52.8 percent (19-of-36) from the field and 60 percent (6-of-10) from the three-point line.
Senior guard Tiera Stephen, whose game status was in question after sustaining a knee injury against Ohio State, started the second-half with a layup followed by another from Rochel, who then sank another shot to give UW its widest lead of the game at 50-32.
Indiana stepped its defense up a notch, which allowed it to hold the Badgers scoreless for slightly over four minutes, and narrowed Wisconsin’s lead to 57-47. Ultimately, Bauman’s layup midway through the second half would stop Indiana’s surge, sealing off the 65-53 victory.
The Badgers had helpers on 16 of their 27 field goals, a number that pleased head coach Bobbie Kelsey.
“Having 16 assists is nice,” she said. “That means a lot of different people are scoring. When we do share the ball, we look really good. It gets a lot of different people involved, and that’s what you want.”
Despite the tough loss to the Buckeyes earlier in the week, Kelsey did not let her team dwell on the past, but rather encouraged them to move forward.
“I expected them to come out ready to play,” she said. “We just had to wipe that away. I’m pleased with the win today, obviously we needed it pretty badly.”
Wisconsin looked sharp on the rebounds, which Rochel admitted was a point of interest after the game in Columbus.
“[Ohio State] killed us on the boards,” said the Lakeville, Minn., native who had a career-high 15 rebounds Sunday. “We’ve really been working on it in practice, and tonight I wasn’t going to let too many go.”
The team also recorded a season-best 9 blocked shots, with four coming from Rochel and the other five from sophomore forward Jacki Gulczynski, who was also second amongst team scoring leaders with 15.
The Badgers hope to carry their momentum into the next challenge of this two-game homestand, when No. 13 Purdue comes to Madison Feb. 14.
