Three seconds left on the clock and tied 52-52, all eyes were on sophomore Cayla McMorris, nicknamed Cayla McBuckets, as she threw up a breathtaking jumper in Viejas Arena. The Badger bench and fan section absolutely exploded as the ball went through the hoop and Wisconsin clinched a 54-52 victory over Delaware in the opening round of the SDSU Thanksgiving Classic.

"I just knew that we had to get a basket," McMorris said. "Once I saw that Mick (Michala Johnson) wasn't open coming off that screen, I knew time was ticking off the clock and I had to do something. I saw that the lane was open and I just drove to the basket."

The Badgers and Blue Hens were tied nine times in the game, five of those times in just the fourth quarter alone. The Badgers performed strong in the paint in the last quarter, hitting eight points in the paint after notching only two in the third period.

Delaware led 38-36 heading into the fourth quarter until Johnson tied it up with a layup (8:34), 38-38. Delaware's Erika Brown knocked in jumper to steal back the lead and it was a constant battle from that point on. Senior Nicole Bauman started a 5-2 run for the Badgers and ended it with a made free throw to give the Badgers a 43-42 lead with 4:43 left on the clock.

After another jumper from the Blue Hens' Sade Chatman floated in, senior Tessa Cichy drained a shot from beyond the arc to get the Badgers back up 46-44 with 2:35 left.

After being plagued with injuries for her first two years as a Badger, Michaela Crall came into her first-ever game as a Badger and made a massive statement. After Cichy's trey, Crall pulled down a defensive rebound on the other side of the court and then banked a jump shot to secure a 48-44 lead with 1:46 left and send the Badger bench into hysterics.

"Mikey Crall came in playing for the first time and hit a huge shot for us," head coach Bobbie Kelsey said. "She was very poised for a young player. We had contributions all across the board and we needed that."

Delaware wasn't going down that easy though. Hannah Jardine and Erika Brown nailed back-to back shots to tie the game at 48 with only 43 seconds left in the game.

Johnson was sent to the free-throw line and swished both shots at the line with 30 seconds to go. The fouls were flying as both Delaware and Wisconsin were sent to the line. Bauman dropped in both free-throw shots to give UW a 52-49 advantage with 15 seconds left. And then the unthinkable happened. Delaware's Brown blasted in a 3-point shot to tie the game once again with only nine seconds to go.

The rest was history. When the team needed a clutch player, McMorris stepped up to hit the game-winning shot.

"She put up the one we needed," Kelsey added. "Cayla plays hard, she doesn't do the right thing every single time but she is willing to listen and do what we ask her to do."

The Badgers started off hot in the first half, finding their rhythm quickly to go on a 12-0 run behind back-to-back 3-pointers from senior Tessa Cichy to lead 16-5 with 4:11 left to play in the first quarter. At the 19-second mark in the first quarter, Cichy popped in a jump shot to give Wisconsin a 19-10 lead at the end of the first quarter. Cichy went 2-of-3 from 3-point range and 4-of-6 from the field in the first quarter.

Johnson and Bauman were at it again early on, sending Wisconsin on a 9-0 run and clinch the largest lead of the game by 14 (26-12) with 6:42 left in the half. The Badger defense held the Blue Hens off until the three-minute mark when Brown laid it in (26-14). A Dakota Whyte jump shot sealed a 31-20 advantage for the Badgers going into halftime.

After having such strong momentum in the first half, the Badgers struggled to find their stride in the third quarter only scoring five total points. Delaware, however, sparked up its play to come back quickly.

The Blue Hens started off on a 5-0 run that was stopped by a jumper from Cayla McMorris to make the score 33-25 (7:12). But the Blue Hens just kept coming back, following up with a 9-0 run to tie the game up, 33-33. Senior Rosanna Gambino dinged in a nice jumper from just outside of the paint to keep a 36-35 advantage for the Badgers until a lethal 3-point shot from Brown took back a 38-36 lead for the Blue Hens going into the fourth quarter.

Wisconsin finished shooting 35.7 percent (20-56) from the field and 38.5 percent (5-13) from beyond the arc. Delaware shot a close 31.6 percent (18-57) from the field and 42.9 percent (6-14) from 3-point range.

Bauman led the Badgers with 17 points but also kept the Badger defense on pace with three monster blocks. Johnson led the Badgers with nine rebounds.
Both teams committed 13 turnovers each, Wisconsin gave up 11 points off turnovers while Delaware allowed 15 points.

"I think it's just positive motivation for us because we really needed a win," McMorris said. "Getting that win really builds up our confidence and that should carry over to the next game."