Michigan State outplayed the Wisconsin Badgers women’s basketball team 78-52 Sunday afternoon at the Kohl Center.
The Badgers sat at a 13-14 record prior to Sunday’s game, 6-11 in the Big Ten. Michigan State had a 21-7 record, 12-5 in the conference.
To honor Senior Day, senior Brooke Schramek, senior Halle Douglass, senior Natalie Leuzinger, redshirt sophomore Sacia Vanderpool and sophomore Ronnie Porter started for Wisconsin.
The Spartans had a quick scoring start after winning the tip. Two back-to-back layups gave Michigan State a 4-0 lead in the first two minutes.
Two 3-pointers from Leuzinger put Wisconsin on the board and helped them take the lead.
The game stayed close throughout the first quarter as both teams scored efficiently, and Wisconsin held Michigan State under double-digits until the last two minutes of the quarter. However, the Spartans constantly pressured the Badgers with a full-court press, often leading to turnovers or steals. The score was tied at 14 entering the second quarter.
The game stayed close in the early minutes of the second quarter until the Spartans slowly started to pull away. A layup from Michigan State’s Julia Ayrault gave the Spartans their first double-digit lead of the game.
Wisconsin continued to struggle against Michigan State’s full court pressure, creating more turnovers for themselves. The Badgers had a low-scoring quarter with only 12 points, nine of which came from Williams.
The Spartans held a 15-point lead by the end of the second quarter for a score of 41-26 heading into halftime.
Wisconsin came into the second half looking to cut down on Michigan State’s lead. A turnaround jumper from Williams helped thin the lead down to 10, but Michigan State quickly brought the lead back up to 13 with a 3-pointer from Moira Joiner.
Late in the third quarter, Leuzinger and Michigan State’s DeeDee Hagemann got into a small altercation, resulting in technical fouls called on both players. Leuzinger was also called for an offensive foul, giving her a fourth foul with another quarter left in the game. Many fans in the Kohl Center were vocally upset with the referees due to the large disparity in fouls between the two teams.
The Spartans built their lead up to 22 points by the end of the quarter, with the score at 64-22 entering the final quarter.
The final quarter of the game was no different, and Michigan State continuously increased their large lead.
The Spartans’ lead reached 30 points with four minutes remaining in the game, but the Badgers continued to play their hardest despite being down by a large amount.
Badgers head coach Marisa Moseley subbed in all four of the seniors to end the game before subbing them out one-by-one to receive standing ovations from the crowd.
The final score was 78-52. The Badgers had 5 total free throw attempts, while the Spartans had 20. Fans continued to vocalize their opinions in the stark foul call contrasts up until the last seconds of the game.
Williams led the Badgers with 17 points and 15 rebounds, and Leuzinger scored 11 points in her last game at the Kohl Center. Michigan State’s Joiner led all scorers with 20 points.
With her 15th consecutive double-double, Williams now has the most double-doubles in the conference this season. She tied a record set in the 2018-19 season by former Iowa Hawkeye and WNBA player Megan Gustasfon.
In a postgame press conference, Moseley said getting through full-court presses is “something that we have to continue to improve upon and embrace as opposed to shy away from.”
Sunday’s game improved Michigan State to 20-5 all-time against Wisconsin.
The Badgers will head to Minneapolis next for the Big Ten tournament from March 6-10. The 10th-seeded Badgers will face off against 7th-seeded Penn State on March 7.
