INDIANAPOLIS – The Wisconsin women's basketball team climbed its way back to force an overtime period after forfeiting a 10-point lead, but eventually succumbed to Northwestern 76-72 in the first round of the Big Ten Conference Tournament at Bankers Life Fieldhouse on Wednesday afternoon.

UW ended the season 7-22 while the Wildcats (16-15) advance to a second-round game vs. Minnesota on Thursday.

Led by powerful post play from Michala Johnson and Avyanna Young, the Badgers and Wildcats had 17 lead changes in an entirely back-and-forth affair.

Johnson exploded in the paint, putting up a season-high 22 points accompanied by eight rebounds. The senior finishes her career with 988 points and 519 rebounds.

But she wasn't the only one putting on a big show to cap the season. Young notched the first double-double of her Wisconsin career with 11 points and 14 rebounds.

Trailing by two, 65-63, with 1:35 remaining in regulation, back-to-back baskets from senior Dakota Whyte gave the Badgers the lead at 67-65 with 40 seconds to play. But NU's Christen Inman slipped away to knock in a layup and tie the game at 67-67 with 22 seconds remaining. Wisconsin couldn't get off a late shot as the game went into overtime.

Wisconsin either outscored or tied Northwestern in all but the final two periods of the game.

In the extra period, Northwestern scored first off of two made free throws by Lydia Rohde but UW responded with a cut right under the basket by Johnson to make it 69-69 with 3:30 left to play.

Northwestern found its momentum in the final minute of the game. With 55 seconds to go, Amber Jamison knocked in a jumper that paved the way for the Wildcats to hold onto their lead. Senior Nicole Bauman missed the first but made the second of two free throws to pull the Badgers came within one (71-70) with 27 seconds remaining. UW was forced to foul and the Wildcats Ashley Deary made two free throws with 25 seconds left to give NU a 73-70 advantage.

Sophomore Cayla McMorris gave the Badgers one last spark of hope after putting back the rebound off a missed 3-pointer by Whyte to make it a one-point game (73-72) with 11 seconds left. That was the closest the Badgers would get as Deary made the second of two free throws with 10 seconds to go to make it 74-72. Wisconsin missed a layup with three seconds remaining and Northwestern added two more free throws for the final.

Wisconsin had the largest lead of the game twice in the third quarter, leading by 10 on two occasions, with the latter lead (45-35) ignited by a powerful 3-point basket by Cayla McMorris at the 5:11 mark in the third quarter.

Earlier in the game, Wisconsin fought its way back from a five-point deficit (12-7) just under the four-minute mark in the first period behind a 7-2 run. Whyte found the basket first with 3:10 left in the first quarter to cut the lead down by three but a smooth shot from beyond the arc by freshman Roichelle Marble tied it up 12-12. Northwestern's Inman knocked in another jumper that was reciprocated by a layup from Young.

The last minute of the quarter was all Johnson as she had the final four points that gave UW the 18-17 lead after one quarter.

The second quarter was just as tight as both teams scored 15 points apiece. But the difference for the Badgers was the stellar play by Johnson who had seven points all on her own in the second quarter, giving her 16 points at halftime.

A long shot by Northwestern gave the Wildcats a one-point advantage with 54 seconds left in the half until Johnson erased that lead with a jumper from just inside the top of the key. Wisconsin led 33-32 at halftime, making the team 7-5 when leading at halftime this season.

Wisconsin finished with a season-high 49 rebounds as both Young and senior Tessa Cichy pulled down double-figure boards, with 14 and 10 respectively. The Badgers outrebounded the Wildcats 49-48, marking the seventh time they have outrebounded an opponent this season.

The Badgers shot 41.1 percent (30-73) from the field behind a team season-high 73 field goal attempts. UW also had 21 second-chance points compared to just seven by Northwestern. Both teams had even contributions off the bench with 14 points apiece but Wisconsin outscored Northwestern in the paint, 40-32.

The Badgers, who earned their lowest seed in program history, are now 7-10 in the first round of the Big Ten Tournament and 2-1 against Northwestern in the tournament.
Young's 14 boards in the game were the second-highest amount of rebounds in the program's tournament history.

Bauman finishes the season with 438 points and her career as the No. 19 all-time scorer in program history with 1,224 points.