Playing just one day after the men’s basketball team suffered a stunning loss at the hands of Western Illinois, the Wisconsin women’s basketball team got off to a slow start in its regular-season opener against Louisiana Tech, the second-winning program in the history of NCAA Division I women’s basketball.
But unlike their male counterparts, the Badgers were able to rebound to upend the Lady Techsters, 79-65.
“I think some of it is just first game jitters. They know this one counts,” UW head coach Bobbie Kelsey said of her team’s slow start. “Our men unfortunately found that out last night. You’ve got to come out and play and play on the defensive end.”
Part of the slow start can be credited to the lack of film on the Lady Techsters, a team that returned only 25 percent of their scholarship players, the second-lowest mark in the NCAA. Nevertheless when the Lady Techsters first pressed the Badgers, something they did throughout game, Kelsey was not surprised.
“I thought we did a good job of breaking it, a little sloppy, a little disjointed, but for the most part we didn’t turn it over, so that was good,” she said.
The Badgers trailed by two points after one quarter of play and even after settling in the second quarter, still trailed at halftime 36-35.
Wisconsin closed the second quarter on a 6-0 run which it continued in the third quarter scoring the first three baskets of the period to regain the lead. Two of those baskets were from redshirt senior Michala Johnson, who made her season debut after missing most of last season with a torn ACL.
“I was a little nervous in the beginning,” Johnson said. “I was happy to be out there with my teammates, being able to play again.”
Johnson looked crisp for most of the game except for one moment in the third quarter, in which she fell to the ground untouched while running back on defense, a moment that led to laughter on the part of both Johnson and her teammates.
She finished the game with 13 points and five rebounds in only 20 minutes of action. After the game, Kelsey told reporters that Johnson is on a strict 20-minute limit, which was why the six-year senior sat almost all of the fourth quarter. But with just over three minutes to go in the fourth quarter, when the Badgers’ lead fell to only nine points, Kelsey checked Johnson in the game, a move that immediately result in two straight Johnson baskets and a 13-point lead.
As a result of Johnson’s minutes limit, the Badgers relied heavily on seniors Dakota Whyte, Nicole Bauman and Tessa Cichy.
“The usual suspects did a great job,” Kelsey said.
Saturday afternoon Cichy scored 14 points but more impressively grabbed career-high 16 rebounds.
“A lot of them kind of came my way. It’s effort, but it’s a team effort as well. Just cause everyone needs to box out in order for me to get the ball,” Cichy said.
Whyte served as the tone-setter for much of the afternoon, finishing with 16 points and four assists in 30 minutes of play. She pushed the pace throughout the game and her play especially in transition seemed to give Louisiana Tech more and more trouble as the game progressed.
“I think Dakota really gets them going, off that high ball screen, in transition. We really tried to slow her down and could not slow her down,” Louisiana Tech head coach Tyler Summitt said.
Senior guard Nicole Bauman chipped in with 14 points, four rebounds and four assists, including a crucial four-point play midway through the third quarter that extended the Badgers’ lead to 12.
Junior Brooke Pumroy, a transfer from Maquette, as well as Brandi Wingate, the daughter of former NBA player David Wingate, led Louisiana Tech with 16 points and 14 points, respectively. Wingate led the Lady Techsters with eight rebounds as well.
The Badgers try to pick up win No. 2 Wednesday evening against Drake University. Tip-off is at 7 p.m. at the Kohl Center.
