Badgers burn Phoenix, 59-47
December 10, 2008 | Women's Basketball
Make it nine in a row. The Wisconsin women's basketball team kept its streak alive, defeating Green Bay, 59-47 Wednesday night in front of 3,719 fans inside the Kress Center. The Badgers' win gives them a 9-1 record as they have won nine straight since falling in the season opener on the road at South Dakota State. Wisconsin also hands Green Bay its first loss of the season as the Phoenix drop to 7-1. Wisconsin's nine-game winning streak ties for the third longest in school history.
'I'm proud of our team,' said UW coach Lisa Stone.' They came into a tough place to play against a very, very good team. Outside of the turnovers, we did very well against a really good team. It's a big win to win on the road and to pick up our ninth (win). '
With Minnesota's loss last night against South Dakota State, the Badgers now have the best record in non-conference action of any of the Big Ten Conference schools.
The Badgers had two players finish in double figures and were led by 16 from Mariah Dunham. Tara Steinbauer chipped in 13 points off the bench. Alyssa Karel finished with nine, her first game all season she did not score in double figures. The Badgers came out hot in the first half, shooting 65.2 percent but finished at 50 percent after going 7-of-21 in the second half. Celeste Hoewisch had 15 for Green Bay and the Phoenix shot 38.6 percent from the field. Green Bay's leading scorer, Lavesa Glover was limited to just five points on 3-of-8 shooting.
Wisconsin had a better free throw percentage than Green Bay, shooting 73.3 percent compared to 66.7 percent. Dunham converted on 4-of-6 free throw attempts.
Wisconsin won the battle on the boards by out-rebounding Green Bay 33-21. Lin Zastrow and Rae Lin D'Alie had six rebounds each while Dunham grabbed five boards.
Turnovers hurt the Badgers tonight as they finished with a season-high 24. The team did pass the ball well though and finished with 15 assists, four of which came from Karel and another three from D'Alie. Green Bay finished with 20 turnovers and nine assists.
'Our team came in here and shot lights out to start the game,' said Stone. 'Over 60 percent from the field we shot in the first half, despite the turnovers. That kept us alive. Defensively, I thought we did enough, particularly near the end and to shut them for 3-for-13 from outside and contesting shots; that was valuable to us. What hindered us a bit was foul trouble with our posts in the first half.'
Wisconsin jumped out to an 11-0 lead, shooting a perfect 5-for-5 from the field. D 'Alie had five points, including a pull-up jumper with 16:33 showing on the clock, during the early minutes of the game. The Phoenix didn't get on the board until Celeste Hoewisch scored underneath on an inbounds play with 16:12 remaining.
Green Bay scored three more buckets and pulled with seven (15-8) with 13:02 left in the half but the Badgers went on an 8-0 run, led by five points from Karel to go up 26-8. Wisconsin extended its lead to 20 points (30-10) with 6:46 remaining off a pull-up jumper from Jamie Russell but the Badgers would score only five more points in the half.
The Phoenix took advantage of several Badger turnovers over the last five minutes, outscoring the UW 10-5. The Badgers also got into foul trouble late in the half as they recorded 12 fouls, including three each on Tara Steinbauer and Mariah Dunham. Green Bay only had five fouls in the half.
Wisconsin turned in an impressive rebounding performance in the half, pulling down 19 boards, and also shot 65.2 percent (15-23) from the field for the period. Green Bay had only five rebounds and shot just 31.8 percent (7-22) from the field.
'They made a little push at us near the end of the first half,' said Stone. 'They made a run at us. (The momentum) started swinging their way. At the end of the first half and the start of the second half, we sputtered a bit and that was a lot due to their defense.'
The Phoenix started the second half like they ended the first, outscoring the Badgers 10-0 to pull within five, 35-30, with 16:35 remaining. Wisconsin missed six shots early before Dunham came off the bench, scoring on an inbounds play with 16:14 left. Dunham was fouled, converting on a three-point play to putt the Badgers back up 38-30.
'They came out of the gate right away and cut it to five,' said Stone. ' The kids responded, they didn't flinch, they didn't hesitate. They stayed confident, they stayed together and pulled it out.'
Green Bay cut the UW lead to seven (44-37) on a three-point play by Lavesa Glover but behind senior Caitlin Gibson, the Badgers went up 51-38 with 5:58 left. Gibson scored four points and pulled down one rebound to lead the rally.
The Phoenix cut the lead to 10 (57-47) on a three pointer by Kati Harty but that is as close as they would get as they missed four shots down the stretch.
Wisconsin wraps up its nonconference season on Saturday, hosting Marquette at 1 p.m. in the Kohl Center.
Game notes
- Sophomore Alyssa Karel was held to under 10 points for the first time this season. The 5-7 guard had 9 points, all in the first half.
- Sophomore Tara Steinbauer had a season-high 13 points
- Senior Caitlin Gibson came off the bench in the second half to score four points and pull down one rebound in seven minutes of play.
- The Badgers outrebounded the Phoenix, 33-21, their largest margin of the season.
- Wisconsin gave up only 47 points, the third fewest points given up this season.
- UW shot 50.0 (22-44) percent from the field, its third highest percentage this season.
