Badgerball Rally Falls Short Against Ball State
December 05, 2002 | Women's Basketball
The Wisconsin women's basketball team (1-5) decimated a second-half 16-point deficit with an 18-2 run in five-and-a-half minutes, but the game's final shot rimmed out and UW lost to Ball State, 82-81, Thursday night at the Kohl Center. Wisconsin survived a barrage of Ball State three-pointers, but couldn't cling to a one-point lead with 26 seconds remaining.
'I think the character of this team was pretty much exemplified,' said coach Jane Albright of the Badgers' 16-point comeback. 'We just kept running. The tempo was definitely what we wanted to do and we hit some outside shots and some inside and played better defense. The group played really hard, really fresh and very smart together.'
The Badgers' 18-2 run started with 11:28 left in the game and ended at 5:57 with the game knotted at 70. The game was tied again at 73 with five minutes left and UW then endured three ties and three lead changes. The final lead change favored Ball State, when Tamara Bowie, who had a game-high 25 points, put home the game 's final bucket. The Badgers came down the court, but Ashley Josephson's final shot rattled out.
'I'm really proud of this group,' Albright said. 'They really have hung in there and tonight they proved they can score very efficiently.'
Ball State's lead was only two at the break (44-42), but the Cardinals came out firing and built an eight-point lead behind Bowie and Kate Endress six minutes into the second stanza. With the score 60-52, Ball State began a 10-0 run behind back-to-back three-pointers from Bowie and Jessica Reiter. Down 16 at 11:39, Josephson ended the Badgers' three-minute scoring drought with a trey of her own and sparked the 18-2 run. During the run, Emily Ashbaugh powered in her first four points of the second half down low. Stephanie Rich also contributed back-to-back field goals to add to her nine points. Rich tied her career-high with six boards. Leading the Badger scoring, Josephson tallied a career high and Ashbaugh tied her career best with 17 points apiece.
Ball State's first shot proved to be the story of the game as Dana Collins buried a three-pointer to give the Cardinals an early 3-0 lead. Ball State would go on to shoot eight of 14 from behind the arc in the first half and 13 of 22 for the game.
The Badgers responded to the early trey with a 10-0 run sparked by a Rich bucket and a three-point play by Ashbaugh. Ball State battled back and regained the lead (23-22) at 8:55 on a Collins floater in the middle. Ashbaugh brought the Badgers back again finishing off two fast breaks and Shawna Nichols hit a three-pointer to give UW another seven-point lead at 30-23.
Ball State drilled into UW's lead with back-to-back three-pointers with six minutes to play in the first and did it again with two minutes left to take a two-point lead. The Badgers responded to tie the game 38-38 at 1:42, but another trey by Ball State's Johna Goff set the Cardinals up for their 44-42 halftime lead.
The Badgers remain at home and take on Eastern Illinois Tuesday, Dec. 10. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m. at the Kohl Center.
