The Wisconsin Badgers are trying to build the championship culture that the Maryland Terrapins currently have. But as any and every championship team knows, a basketball game is a full four quarters. The Badgers learned that cruel lesson Wednesday night after leading by five points after one quarter, and eventually falling to the Terrapins 90-65.
“I’m proud of my group. They came out with a lot of energy. We executed our offense the way we felt we needed to,” head coach Bobbie Kelsey said. “But you can’t make those kinds of mistakes against this team. We’re trying to build championship habits, so no matter who you play we’re trying to do the right thing every time.”
And for 10 early minutes it seemed like the Badgers had the potential to upend the fifth-ranked team in the country.
“Wisconsin came out ready to play in the first quarter,” Maryland head coach Brenda Frese said. “But fortunately for us Shatori [Walker-Kinbrough] came out ready to carry the load for the team.”
The Badgers’ (2-5 Big Ten, 6-11 overall) initial defensive game plan involved playing 2-3 zone, which seemed to fluster many Terrapin players as evidenced by their four turnovers in the first five minutes of the game. But as Frese alluded to, All-Big Ten First-Team junior Shatori Walker-Kimbrough settled the Terps' (6-1, 17-2) offense early and often, scoring 11 of the team’s first 15 points and finishing the first half with 22 points on 8-of-11 shooting.
Walker-Kimbrough’s stroke might have been the second most prolific on the court, though, as Terrapin reserve senior Tierney Pfirman went on a 4-for-4 run of her own, scoring all 11 of her points on four consecutive possessions.
“They just hit some shots. Some of them we’re right there and they still hit them,” Kelsey said. “And if they weren’t shooting three’s they were getting layups.”
Walker-Kimbrough played only seven minutes in the second half and took only one shot, meaning that most of those layups Kelsey alluded to came from another All-Big Ten First Team player, 6-foot-3 center Brionna Jones.
Jones added 22 points and nine rebounds in only 23 minutes of action.
“Jones is a load down there. She just can’t be moved,” Kelsey said. “I felt kind of bad for [Michala Johnson]. She was trying, but if she gets under the basket in that little corner underneath on either side of the rim, you cannot move her. Period.”
On the offensive end, Young finished with 14 points and four rebounds in 33 minutes of physical action. But yet again senior Nicole Bauman led the Badgers, scoring 22 points on 9-of-16 shooting.
Bauman, though, glanced over her offensive performance after the game and instead critiqued her team’s perimeter defense.
“We weren’t getting to the right spot. They were pulling up at the 3-point line and hitting them,” Bauman said. “I think Walker was 6-for-6. That’s unreal, but still.”
The Terps shot 75 percent from behind the arc in the first half and, even after trailing by five points after the first quarter, led by 19 at the break.
The Badgers kept fighting, showing resilience for the remaining 20 minutes.
“I liked our energy throughout the game. We never gave up. Kept playing, kept fighting,” Kelsey said.
The Badgers travel to College Park, Md., in their second to last game of the conference season, and even after a 25-point loss Wednesday night, Young is confident the Badgers will be able to flash their championship potential.
“Like I said, we see them again, and we’re gonna’ be ready next time.”
