The Wisconsin women’s basketball team (3-13 Big Ten, 11-18 Overall) will only have one more chance to “finish strong,” as it says on bracelets worn during each practice. The Badgers’ regular season came to an end Sunday in a 54-48 loss at Michigan State (10-6 Big Ten, 22-7 Overall).
Nineteen turnovers plagued the Badgers in their regular season finale. The Spartans capitalized off those turnovers with 22 points in what was otherwise a close game statistically. Junior guard Morgan Paige led all scorers with 17 points and, along with junior forward Cassie Rochel, played all 40 minutes in the game.
The Badgers started the game slowly and found themselves digging out of an 8-2 deficit four minutes into the game. After switching to a 2-3 zone defensively, Wisconsin kept the margin to single digits going into the second half trailing 30-23.
An 8-0 run led by Paige kept the Badgers in the game during the second half, and they were only down 50-47 with three minutes to play. After that, the 3-point shots for Wisconsin would not fall and Michigan State rode to a closely contested win.
Sophomore forward Jacki Gulczynski added 10 points and four rebounds, while Rochel brought down 14 rebounds. Freshman guard Tessa Cichy played a career high 31 minutes in the contest, recording three points, one rebound and two assists. The Badgers outscored the Spartans 28-20 in the paint, but the points off turnovers proved too high of a hill for UW to climb.
Wisconsin will play what could be its last game March 7 in the first round of the Big Ten tournament at Sears Centre Arena in Hoffman Estates, Ill. The No. 11 seeded Badgers will face No. 6 seeded Illinois, which swept UW this season.
