The Wisconsin Badgers women’s basketball team was eliminated in the first round of the Big Ten Tournament Wednesday night after their defeat to the Iowa Hawkeyes.
Before coming to Gainbridge Fieldhouse, Wisconsin played Iowa in the last game of the regular season. Despite the loss, there were signs that Wisconsin could compete with Iowa going into their rematch three days later.
Once tip-off commenced, however, the Badgers struggled to keep pace with an Iowa team that still has key pieces from their 2023-24 national championship appearance, including junior Hannah Stuelke and senior Addison O’Grady.
Wisconsin had major issues contesting the 3-point shooting of Iowa, who shot 11-20 on the night from 3s. The Badgers consistently went under the screens of Iowa players, which left shooters with an open window to get shots off.
Serah Williams was the main source of offense for Wisconsin, scoring 22 points on an efficient 9-16 shooting night. Outside of Williams, the rest of the Badgers’ offense struggled at getting clean shots off.
Ronnie Porter, Natalie Leuzinger and Carter McCray were the next-highest scorers with six points but shot a combined 7-24 from the field. Wisconsin’s inability to create offense outside of Williams was a major contributor to their loss.
Senior Lucy Olsen led Iowa with 19 points with 3-4 shooting from 3-point range. Taylor McCabe, Sydney Affolter and Kylie Feuerbach all followed with nine points of their own.
The first quarter consisted of back-and-forth scoring from both sides, with Wisconsin keeping pace with Iowa through three minutes of game time. It all came to a sudden halt after a midrange jumper from Tess Myers, as Wisconsin would go scoreless after the 6:37 mark.
Wisconsin had ball control issues early, giving up five turnovers in the quarter. Iowa capitalized to the fullest, going on a 19-0 run that ended the first quarter with a 25-9 deficit for the Badgers.
A quick 5-0 run to start the second quarter came from a Porter 3-pointer and a Williams mid-range jumper. The sequence cut the Iowa lead to 11, but Wisconsin was facing an onslaught from deep.
Iowa shot a scathing 4-6 from three in the quarter, with Wisconsin defenders struggling to affect shooters. The Badgers only scored nine more points outside their initial 5-0 run to start the quarter, as they went into halftime down 43-23.
The second half went similarly for Wisconsin, although their scoring production did pick up slightly in both the third and fourth quarters. Iowa’s relentless offense, which shot 17-30 in the second half, became the main contributor to Wisconsin’s inability to mount a comeback.
Wednesday's game ended 81-54 in a win for the Iowa Hawkeyes, although the game was out of reach for Wisconsin far before the final buzzer sounded.
With no guaranteed games remaining on the season for the Badgers, they’ll wait to see if they get invited to either the Women’s National Invitation Tournament or the Women's Basketball Invitation Tournament. The latter was created by the NCAA last year as their official secondary postseason tournament.
