MADISON, Wis. – The Wisconsin women's basketball team ended 2015 in style, clinching its Big Ten Conference opener on New Year's Eve with a 73-69 decision over Indiana.

The Thursday afternoon game started out a little rocky with an unannounced Kohl Center evacuation, but not even a false fire drill could upend the Badgers as they opened the conference season 1-0 for the second straight year.

Wisconsin (5-6, 1-0 Big Ten) led by as many as 10 points in the game, including at 62-52 with 5:45 to play before the Hoosiers rallied to close the gap. A 10-2 Indiana run cut UW's lead to 64-52 with 2:16 to play but two key offensive rebounds set up a Nicole Bauman 3-pointer with 53 seconds remaining to put the Badgers up 67-62.

Indiana would get no closer than four points (70-66) the rest of the game as Wisconsin went 6-of-8 from the line to seal the win.  

Bauman shone bright in the final period, as the senior tallied 12 of her game-high 24 points in the fourth quarter.  The senior guard was 6-for-6 from the free throw line, including 4-of-4 in the fourth quarter, shooting 100 percent for the sixth time in her career. She added six rebounds and grabbed three steals.

Joining Bauman in double-digits was fellow senior Dakota Whyte with 17 points and sophomore Cayla McMorris, who notched 12 points.

Senior Michala Johnson led the Badgers in rebounds as the forward totaled seven with Wisconsin getting outrebounded 36-25. Roichelle Marble put up a noteworthy performance as well, as the freshman tallied eight points and shot 2-for-2 from the free throw line for the third time in her career and also went 2-of-3 from 3-point range.

Indiana guard Tyra Buss led the Hoosiers (8-5, 0-1 Big Ten) with 16 points, while forward Amanda Cahill chipped in 13 and guard Alexis Gassion added 10. Cahill had a double-double with a game-high 11 rebounds.

After winning the opening tip, Wisconsin put up a pair of layups from Avyanna Young and Bauman to lead the Hoosiers, 4-0. The teams battled through back-and-forth action, until IU tallied a 6-0 run to stand atop the Badgers by three (14-11) with 2:11 left in the first quarter.

The Badgers attempted to even the score before the end of the first quarter with baskets from Whyte, McMorris, and Bauman, but it wasn't enough as the Hoosiers led UW, 18-17, at the conclusion of the first.

After a 9-0 Badger run opened the second quarter as Wisconsin went up 26-18 with 5:05 remaining. The Badgers took the largest lead of the game with seven seconds left in the second quarter, as Wisconsin led 35-25 after a trio of free throws from Bauman and Whyte. Indiana sank a last-second layup to close the gap, 35-27, heading into halftime.

The Hoosiers began the third quarter with a 10-2 run to tie the game at 37 with 7:19 to go. An old-fashioned 3-point play by McMorris and a layup from Young put UW with 42-37 with 6:45 remaining.  

Indiana came back with a jump shot and a free throw to cut the lead to 42-40 with 5:51 left, but Bauman and Marble answered with a pair of 3-pointers to bring the UW up 48-40. Not ready to give up, the Hoosiers sank a 3-pointer of their own to cut the gap to only five points (48-43) with 3:47 left. A 6-0 Hoosier run brought the game within one point (50-49) with 42 seconds remaining but McMorris made a  layup to extend the lead to 52-49 at the end of the third quarter.

Wisconsin shot 48.1 percent (26-of-54) from field-goal range, compared to Indiana's 45.6 percent (26-of-57). The Badgers also led the Hoosiers from the 3-point range as they shot 41.7percent (5-of-12) compared to the Hoosiers' 33.3 percent (4-of-12) from behind the arc. UW also outshot the Big Ten's best free-throw shooting team 69.6 percent (16-of-23) to 61.9 percent (13-of-21) from the line.

UW also turned the ball over only nine times while dishing off 10 assists. IU had 16 turnovers and 12 assists. Wisconsin also outblocked the Hoosiers 5-1.

The Badgers hit the road and return to action on Sunday in East Lansing, as they take on No. 24 Michigan State in a 1 p.m. CT game.