The No. 7 Maryland Terrapins (14-2 Big Ten, 23-4 overall) did it again with their 12th straight win, which, unfortunately for the Wisconsin Badgers (3-13 Big Ten, 11-16 overall) meant another loss in the Big Ten.
In a 85-56 win against the Badgers, Maryland’s defense took center stage from the get go. The Badger’s struggle began early, as the team had 13 turnovers by the end of the first quarter. Maryland took advantage of the miscues, and scored 27 points against Wisconsin’s eight in the first ten minutes, a lead the Badgers would not be able to catch up to.
Going into halftime down 30 points, Wisconsin knew they had to approach the second half differently — they were in too deep.
“When you put yourself in that hole to start a game you’re trying to find answers.” Head Coach Johnathan Tsipis told the Wisconsin State Journal. “They don’t want that type of moral victory, to beat a team in the second half, but we had to try to make goals as to what we could do in the second half.”
The Badgers were able to beat out the Terrapins in scoring in the latter half of the game 39 to 38, after redshirt sophomore Alex Leuhring’s nailed a three-pointer in the final 30 seconds.
“I thought the kids just played on their toes and they attacked,” Tsipis said about the second half. “I thought we pushed the tempo better, we took better care of the basketball.”
The Badgers never scored more than two points in a row in the first half, then had a 7-0 run in the third quarter. They also held onto the ball better, getting the turnovers under control to about half of the 17 they gave away in the first half.
Wisconsin geared up for the facing of Maryland senior Kailla Charles who has averaged 15 points, 7.8 rebounds and 2.2 assists per game leading up to Wednesday’s game. She brought the heat to the Kohl Center, leading Maryland in scoring with 16 points, followed by sophomore Shakira Austin and freshman Diamond Miller with 12 points each.
Wisconsin junior Niya Beverly and freshman Julie Pospisilova lead the Badgers’ scoring with ten points each, followed by senior Suzanne Gilreath with eight points.
The Badgers will continue to fight against the Northwestern Wildcats at the Kohl Center on Saturday, looking to finish with a strong last home game. Tip off is at 11 a.m..
