The Wisconsin women’s basketball team (3-10 Big Ten, 10-15 overall) had a strong start against No. 11 Penn State (11-2, 20-5) on the road Sunday, but the team ultimately fell to the Lady Lions 78-68.
This is the team’s fourth consecutive loss after previously falling to Minnesota Wednesday at the Kohl Center, but the defeat was not for a lack of effort.
The team had a powerful start to the game with a 6-0 run and maintained a comfortable lead for much of the first half until a 3-pointer by senior guard Maggie Lucas gave Penn State their first lead of the game with nine minutes remaining in the half.
The Badgers’ defense faltered as they allowed Penn State to take a 14-4 run several minutes later, putting the score at 30-20 with just over six minutes left. However, they came back to within four points thanks to a 3-pointer from sophomore guard Nicole Bauman.
Going into the second half, the Lions led the Badgers 40-34 and both teams were steadily trading baskets for the first several minutes, with Penn State maintaining a constant lead for much of the half.
Wisconsin came back to tie the game. Then, it was freshman Malayna Johnson, who scored a career-high six points this game, who gave Wisconsin the lead 58-56 with a layup with about seven minutes left in the game.
The Badgers could not maintain the lead for long, allowing Penn State to dominate for the rest of the game, and permitting a 15-5 run late in the second half that secured the Lions’ 78-68 victory.
Although Wisconsin could not secure the win, three players finished with double digit points.
Among the group was Bauman, who scored a career-high 17 points including five 3-pointers, as well as senior Taylor Wurtz and junior Michala Johnson.
UW managed to shoot 43.9 percent, which was in close competition with Penn State’s 44.6 percent shooting percentage from the field.
This game marks the start of the Badgers’ toughest stretch of the season, taking on three ranked teams in a week, with No. 25 Michigan State coming to the Kohl Center Thursday night and then the team heads to West Lafayette, Ind., to take on No. 23 Purdue next weekend.
UWBadgers.com contributed to this report.
