Despite an aggressive second half of gameplay, Wisconsin (3-9 Big Ten, 10-14 overall) could not recover from a dismal, low-scoring first half against Minnesota (5-6, 16-9) Wednesday night at the Kohl Center.
This loss comes after UW was defeated at Indiana Saturday in a remarkably similar manner, suffering a tough first half then failing to recover from the deficit, a pattern redshirt senior guard Taylor Wurtz plans to change.
“We dug ourselves into that hole, if we can find a way to come out we will be in good shape,” she said.
The first half was ugly, and neither team could put the ball in the net during the first two and a half minutes of game time, with turnovers galore by both teams. The Badgers shot just 21 percent from the floor over the course of the half, but not for lack of opportunities, according to Wisconsin head coach Bobbie Kelsey.
“We just didn’t shoot well in the first half, not for lack of being open, we just didn’t knock them down,” she said. “The shots are there, you just have got to knock them down.”
Junior forward Michala Johnson picked up her second foul at the nine-minute mark, hobbling the Badger offense while its leading scorer sat on the bench for the rest of the half with foul trouble. She would be held to just six points in the game.
“She’s a great player and she can go one-on-one with anybody, and I think us mixing up our defenses, our zones, really prohibited her from taking a lot of shots and being very effective inside,” Minnesota head coach Pam Borton said. “Our zone forced them to take outside shots and low-percentage shots.”
The Badgers would come out of the break strong, cutting the Gopher lead to 43-39 after being down by as much as 13 in the second half. After a quick timeout by the Gophers, they proceeded to go on a 10-2 run and wouldn’t look back for the rest of the game.
“We went into a zone and kind of messed it up a little bit. I thought that was a nice run on our part—we just couldn’t sustain it,” Kelsey said. “There’s always a team where you punch-punch back—it always goes back and forth, but sometimes the run for the other team lasts a little longer than you want.”
Minnesota junior guard Rachel Banham, the Big Ten’s leading scorer, put her team ahead with a few clutch baskets down the stretch, all but ensuring her team would emerge with a victory. She would finish with a game-high 19 points.
“Banham is a tough cover,” Kelsey said. “She is an All-American and there is a reason why.”
