The Wisconsin Badgers women’s basketball team (11-10) pulled away against the Michigan Wolverines (14-7) Wednesday night to win their first game since starting Big Ten conference play.
Star forward Serah Williams continued her run of impressive play, making 7-10 field goal attempts, totaling 22 points for the game. Along with seven rebounds and two blocks, it was business as usual for the junior out of Brooklyn, New York.
It was a team effort, however, that got the Badgers over the hump against the Wolverines. Lily Khran, Natalie Leuzinger, Tess Myers and Carter McCray all had double-digit scoring performances.
Khran provided a crucial scoring punch from the bench, with 14 points and shooting 4-6 from the 3-point line.
Michigan freshman Olivia Olson led the game in scoring, with a monumental 30-point game. Coming into Wednesday averaging 15.9 points per game, Olson showcased her ability to dominate the paint and keep Michigan within reach throughout 40 minutes.
From tip-off, the Wolverines made it an emphasis to double Serah Williams in the post. She only got three shots off the entire first half. As a result, the Badgers needed to find other means of offense.
The first half saw Wisconsin relying heavily on its 3-point game, shooting 53% from three. Coming into the contest shooting only 32% from 3-point range on the season, Wisconsin chose the right night to get hot from deep.
Of their 12 total 3-pointers, nine of them came in the first half. Those 12 3s tied a Wisconsin women’s basketball program record for second most 3-pointers in a single game. You’d have to go back to Feb. 16, 2022 against Michigan State for the only other game with more 3-point makes.
Leuzinger and Myers shot a combined 5-8 from the arc in the first half, propelling the Badgers to a 34-30 lead going into the break.
Wisconsin was in range to build upon their first-half shooting, leading by eight with 8 minutes, 33 seconds left in the third quarter. They couldn’t capitalize, however, as five turnovers from the Badgers in the quarter left the door open just enough for Michigan. Trading blows, the two teams ended up tied at 53 coming off a last-second 3-pointer from Michigan’s Jordan Hobbs.
The Badgers offense had slowed down closing the third quarter and starting the fourth. A constant problem for them this season, Wisconsin went four and a half minutes scoreless as Michigan took a 59-55 lead with 7:34 remaining in the game.
Despite now losing, the 3-point barrage from the first half allowed Wisconsin to spark their offense once again. Michigan loosened up their double on Williams early in the second half to prioritize guarding the three. Badger ball handlers gained the chance to feed Williams the ball, who was now dealing with 1-on-1 matchups.
This proved to be pivotal, as Williams scored 14 of her 22 points in the fourth quarter. Just as her offense was clicking, her effort on defense during the fourth quarter may have been even more impactful.
The sequence of the game came when Williams ripped the ball out of Michigan’s Yulia Grabovskia’s hands, providing Wisconsin a fast-break chance to take back the lead. Williams proceeded to make a turnaround-and-1 jumper, leading to the Badgers faithful erupting within the Kohl Center.
Wisconsin never looked back after this moment. They went on a 7-0 run after being tied with the Wolverines at 70-70 with 2:33 left in the quarter. A seven-point lead with 33 seconds remaining proved to be enough, as Michigan chose to foul the rest of the way, hoping for some misses at the free-throw line from Wisconsin.
Shooting 18-21 from the charity stripe, the Badgers proceeded to close the last 20 seconds of the game with ease. For the first time in over a month, Wisconsin got back into the win column and could move past the last eight games of losses.
With a losing streak no longer looming over their head, Wisconsin looks to build off this impressive performance in February. They’ll head to West Lafayette, Indiana, on Feb. 2 to play Purdue University.
