| | 1st | 2nd | Final | Rutgers
| 35 | 38 | 73 | Wisconsin
| 29 | 34 | 63 | | Stats at a Glance
| RU | WIS | | FG Percentage | .380 | .423 | | 3-Point FG Percentage | .667 | .200 | | FT Percentage | .867 | .889 | | Offensive Rebounds | 21 | 11 | | Defensive Rebounds | 18 | 25 | | Total Rebounds | 39 | 36 | | Turnovers | 9 | 16 | | Assists | 14 | 10 | | Blocks | 4 | 5 | | |
Jan. 18, 2015
MADISON, Wis. -- Despite three players scoring in double figures, the Wisconsin women's basketball team (7-10 overall, 3-4 Big Ten) fell to No. 24 Rutgers, 73-63, on Sunday afternoon at the Kohl Center.
The Badgers move to 5-3 in Kohl Center games this season, with all of Wisconsin's home losses have been to teams ranked or receiving votes in the national polls and been decided by less than 12 points. Wisconsin fell to Vanderbilt (67-58) and Minnesota (72-60), both teams were receiving votes, earlier in the season.
"We're disappointed that we couldn't come out with the win, but we competed against a very good team," Wisconsin head coach Bobbie Kelsey said. "We're trying to get to their level, but I thought our kids competed hard. We didn't turn it over as much considering that they do press a lot and they're athletic, but I thought we handled their pressure."
| Fast Facts | | • Badgers shoot season-best 88.9 percent from the free-throw line | | • Three Badgers score in double figures | | • Whyte added game-high 17 points | |
Both teams suffered a scoring drought in the first three minutes of the game until senior Jacki Gulczynski made the first shot of the game at 16:58. Neither team led by more than two points for the next five minutes as the score was knotted at 12 with 11:56 to play in the half.
Rutgers (13-5, 4-3) took its first lead of the game (15-14) off a 3-pointer by Cynthia Hernandez at 11:30. The Badgers battled back to tie the game at 17 with 10:12 remaining but the Scarlet Knights went on a 5-0 run to lead 22-17 with 7:57 to go.
Freshman Cayla McMorris scored a layup at the 7:04 mark, giving the 6-0 guard her first points in three games and pulling the Badgers within three (24-21) with 7:04 to go. An 8-2 run put Rutgers up 32-23 with 3:28 to play and give the Scarlet Knights their largest lead of the half.
With 42 seconds left on the clock in the first half, Dakota Whyte pulled up on a jumper, leaving 16 seconds on the clock and steered the Badgers closer (32-29). But another 3-pointer from Hernandez with one second on the clock escalated the Scarlet Knights to a 35-29 advantage at halftime.
Rutgers wasted no time starting the second half, with Tyler Scaife putting in two fastbreak layins for a 4-0 run, giving the Scarlet Knights a 39-29 lead with 17:36 to play. The Badgers came within one point (43-42) with 12:12 to go off of a layup in the paint from Whyte, but that was the closest they would come for the rest of the game.
The Scarlet Knights went on a 7-0 run to secure a 14-point lead (63-49) at 6:33. The Badgers rallied an 8-2 run, dropping the Rutgers lead to 57-65 (2:37) but it wasn't enough as the Scarlet Knights finished the game, 73-63.
The Badgers ended up shooting 42.3 percent from the field (22-of-52) while the Scarlet Knights shot 38 percent (27-of-71). Rutgers victory was fueled by Cynthia Hernandez, who went 5-of-6 from 3-point range, sharing game-high honors with 17 points. The Scarlet Knights had three other players in double digits.
Whyte shared game-high honors with Hernandez, chipping in 17 points. Gulczynski added 13 points while junior Tessa Cichy chipped in 10 points and just missed her second career double-double with nine rebounds.
"We go into every game thinking we can win, and there's obviously things you can take away from every game," Cichy added. "In our minds, we can beat any type of team, whether it's an athletic team, a half-court team, a transition team or a big team, and I think one of our issues right now is putting wins back-to-back.
"We win one, and then maybe we drop the next one, so I think what we should probably focus on now is putting wins back-to-back, and I think that will help us because we know we can beat anybody."
Rutgers outrebounded Wisconsin 39-36, marking the sixth time Wisconsin has been outrebounded by an opponent this season and only the second time in the conference season
Fifth-year senior Cassie Rochel led the Badgers in rebounds with 10, marking her sixth game this season with double-figure boards.
The Badgers made a season-high 16 free throws and posted their highest free throw percentage of the season (88.9 percent), making 16-of-18). Rochel went a perfect 4-of-4 at the free-throw line.
Wisconsin turned the ball over 16 times as Rutgers had 12 steals. The Badgers had five steals while the Scarlet Knights has nine turnovers.
UW dished off 10 assists, led by three apiece from Whyte and Nicole Bauman.
"When you lose, you still have to look at the positive things and not get down on yourself," Kelsey said. "I thought for the most part, we played a good game and there are errors that we have to continue to address." We'll improve and get ready for Nebraska."
