Despite leading the Minnesota Golden Gophers (2-4 Big Ten, 13-7 overall) for the first 27 minutes of the game, the Wisconsin women’s basketball team (2-4, 9-9) could not hold on to the lead long enough to claim a win, settling for a 64-53 loss at Williams Arena in Minneapolis Thursday night.
This is the second straight loss for the Badgers, after falling to Northwestern 74-58 last Saturday on the road. Unfortunately for Wisconsin, in both cases, a weak performance in the second half was to blame.
Sophomore Nicole Bauman got the game going for the Badgers with a three-pointer early in the first half, setting the pace for the first 20 minutes of play with Wisconsin dominating the game, at one point leading the Gophers by 10 points thanks to a jump shot by senior guard Taylor Wurtz.
The Badgers led Minnesota 29-23 going into halftime, but failed to repeat their first-half success in the latter part of the matchup. Minnesota’s offense came out strong with a 7-2 run and the Badgers struggled to keep up, with the Gophers taking the lead 32-31 with about 13 minutes remaining in the game.
The Badgers managed to take back the lead with two free throws by junior forward Michala Johnson, putting the score at 37-36, but the Badgers could not compete with the Gophers strong, determined offense in the last 10 minutes of the game.
Ultimately, Minnesota hit 61 percent of their shots compared to Wisconsin’s 31 percent in the second half, allowing the Gophers to claim the win.
Hoping to recreate the second-half strength they displayed earlier in the season and end the two-game losing streak, the team will take on Michigan at noon Saturday at the Kohl Center.
