| Â | 1st | 2nd | Final | Maryland
| 43 | 38 | 81 | | Wisconsin | 30 | 40 | 70 | | | Â Statistical Leaders | | Â ? Nicole Bauman: 16 Pts, 9 Reb, 3 Ast, 3 Stl, 7-15 FG | | Â ? Tessa Cichy: 17 Pts, 3 Reb, 3 Ast, 1 Stl, 7-14 FG | | Â ? Dakota Whyte: 16 Pts, 2 Reb, 2 Ast, 5-10 FG | | Â Stats at a Glance
| WIS | UMD | | Â FG Percentage | .452 | .492 | | Â 3-Point FG Percentage | .318 | .333 | | Â FT Percentage | .700 | .769 | | Â Offensive Rebounds | 13 | 13 | | Â Defensive Rebounds | 21 | 24 | | Â Total Rebounds | 34 | 37 | | Â Turnovers | 15 | 10 | | Â Assists | 11 | 14 | | Â Steals | 4 | 9 | | |
Feb. 19, 2015
MADISON, Wis. -- After trailing by as many as 17 points in the first half, the Wisconsin women's basketball team cut the lead to three in the second half but would get no closer, falling to No. 5 Maryland 81-70 at the Kohl Center on Thursday night.Â
|  Fast Facts | | ? Three Badgers score in double digits, with Cichy leading the team with 17 points which is three away from her career high | | ? Cassie Rochel had a team-high 11 rebounds, to mark over 500 in her career | | ? Wisconsin ended up shooting 45.2 percent from the field (28-62) and 70 percent from the charity stripe (7-10) | |
The Terrapins (24-2 overall, 15-0 Big Ten) clinch a share of the 2015 Big Ten Conference title in their inaugural season in the league and win their 18th straight game.
"We don't like the moral victories, but you have to take positives from losses," head coach Bobbie Kelsey said. "I thought they played with a little bit more confidence tonight. When things weren't going our way, we didn't have any bickering, everybody worked together and tried to stay on the same page. Nobody tried to do it by themselves, and that was good to see."
Despite the Terp's accolades, the Badgers put up a fight with three Badgers scoring in double figures. Tessa Cichy led the team with 17 points while Nicole Bauman and Dakota Whyte chipped in 16 points apiece. Bauman was just one rebound away from a double-double with nine boards.
Three Terrapins also reached double digits with Brionna Jones leading both teams in points and rebounds. She marked her 10th double-double of the season, recording 20 points and 15 rebounds. Shatori Walker-Kimbrough and Lexie Brown put in 17 and 15 points, respectively, for Maryland.
Maryland got off to a hot start, going on a 7-0 run, to hold the Badgers scoreless for the first three minutes of play. Cassie Rochel opened up UW's scoring with a layup at the 17:27 mark of the first half. The Terrapins led by as many as 15 points (21-6) in the first eight minutes of play before the Badgers started to rally.
"For some reason we have trouble starting out the game, but I thought that we fought back hard," Tessa Cichy said.
A 6-0 Badger run cut the lead to 21-12 with 10:20 remaining but 11 first-half turnovers were costly to Wisconsin, allowing Maryland to lead by 17 points twice, including at 39-22 with 2:51 to play. A 3-pointer by Whyte with three seconds remaining, cut the Terrapins lead to 43-30 heading into the locker room.
The Terps scored the first two points of the second half before a jumper by Whyte, a little over one minute into the second half fueled a 9-4 run by the Badgers to pull within five points (49-44) with 15:57 to play. Within the three-minute run, the Badgers scored three treys-- two by Jacki Gulzynski and one by Cichy-- which ended Wisconsin's first-half drought of 3-pointers.
Whyte's sank two free throws with 15:01 on the clock to put Wisconsin behind 49-46.
"We usually don't start the second half very well, but we came out guns blazing and cut their lead down to three," Cichy said. "We're kind of a battle-back team, that's just kind of what we do."
That was the closest that the Badgers would come as the Terps went on a 22-6 run to extend their lead to game-high 19 (71-52) with 7:10 left in the game.
The Badgers cut the lead to nine (73-64) with three minutes to go. UW also trailed by 10 (77-67) with 52 seconds on the clock before Bauman had a steal and a rebound off of a Cichy miss to pull Wisconsin within eight (77-69) with 41 seconds to play. The Terrapins made four free throws in the remaining seconds to seal the win.
Maryland ended the night, shooting 49.2 percent (29-of-59) from the field, including 33.3 percent (3-of-9) from 3-point range while the Badgers shot 45.2 percent (28-of-62), including 31.8 percent (7-of-22) from deep.
Free throws made a difference in the game as the Terrapins went 20-of-26 (76.9 percent) from the line compared to only 7-of-10 (70 percent) for Wisconsin.
UW held Maryland below its season average of 43 rebounds per game though the Terps finished with a 37-34 advantage on boards. Senior Cassie Rochel led the Badgers with 11 rebounds and three blocks.
Wisconsin dished off 11 assists and finished with 15 turnovers as Maryland had nine steals and scored 28 points off UW giveaways.
"They've been to a Final Four and won a national championship," Kelsey said of the Terrapins. "Maryland just brings a high caliber team to our conference. It brings attention to the fact that we can compete at that level with the SEC, ACC and other power conferences. They definitely bring a lot and we're glad they're in our conference, because if you beat them, then you get a little bit of a push. And they make you better. They make you work on stuff and really take care of the areas where you're no efficient.""
Wisconsin closes out the season celebrating Senior Day at the Kohl Center this Sunday at 3 p.m. against Northwestern.
