The Wisconsin Badgers women’s basketball team lost 87-65 Sunday in a tough battle against the Iowa Hawkeyes..
Wisconsin’s record was 5-3 before the match, while Iowa was 9-4 and ranked 4th in the AP poll. This was the first Big Ten conference game of the season for both teams.
The Badgers and Hawkeyes have met 77 times prior to Sunday’s meeting. Iowa leads the all-time series 57–20.
Senior Brooke Schramek, sophomore Ronnie Porter, sophomore Sania Copeland, senior Natalie Leuzinger and sophomore Serah Williams started for the Badgers.
Wisconsin had a fast start to the first quarter, with Williams driving to the basket for the first points. The Badgers continued scoring and led throughout the majority of the third quarter.
The Badgers played well defensively out of the gate, especially against Iowa’s leading scorer, guard Caitlin Clark. Copeland was tasked with guarding Clark and successfully pushed through screens to stay in front of her.
Iowa gained the lead by the second quarter. Wisconsin did well guarding the 3-point line, forcing Iowa to find scoring inside the paint. The Hawkeyes were unable to make any 3-point shots until the second quarter, where they made three.
Williams, Wisconsin’s leading scorer, had 11 points in the half but found herself in foul trouble. With three fouls, she sat for the majority of the second quarter. And with Williams out, the Badgers found scoring in Porter, who was able to quickly score five points in two minutes.
Clark hit a quick 3-point buzzer-beater as the shot clock hit zero to end the first half. Clark’s shot gave the Hawkeyes a double-digit 43-33 lead and gave Iowa the momentum they needed to continue scoring in the second half.
Wisconsin increased their scoring efforts in the beginning of the third quarter, working to chip away at their 10-point deficit. The Badgers were able to cut the lead to seven points before Iowa started to take over.
Williams continued to struggle with fouls, gaining her fourth with under six minutes remaining in the third quarter. Two more of the Badgers’ starters, Leuzinger and Schramek, found themselves in foul trouble during the quarter.
Iowa’s offense became unstoppable, with the lead reaching 21 points in the third quarter. The Hawkeyes made four out of their five 3-point attempts in the third quarter, helping solidify their lead.
Williams entered the game in the fourth quarter despite having four fouls. She was able to cautiously defend while still making a difference against Iowa shots down low. Williams also started to heat up offensively, scoring back-to -back and drawing fouls on Iowa’s defenders.
Iowa’s forward Hannah Stuelke helped the Hawkeyes keep their lead and finish the game with a 23-point advantage. Stuelke scored six points in that quarter, the most from any Hawkeye in the final quarter.
Despite the large deficit, the Badgers continued playing hard, especially in the last two minutes. Copeland was able to get to the free-throw line for the last two points for Wisconsin.
The final score finished 87-65 to Iowa in the first sold-out Kohl Center Wisconsin women’s basketball game since 2006.
In a postgame press conference, Wisconsin head coach Marisa Moseley said she was “really proud of the crowd that was there to see my team play today.”
Copeland, who had 13 points and four steals, described her philosophy for guarding Iowa’s Clark.
“For guarding Caitlin, I knew that I was going to come in the game with a challenge, but I knew that I could guard her,” Copeland said. “I just needed to stay on her hip the whole game, and frustrate her.”
Coach Moseley commended her teams’ effort, saying she was “really proud of that first half we had, and I think we competed for 40 minutes.”
Wisconsin is now 5-4 and will head to St. Paul, Minnesota to play St. Thomas on Wednesday.
