PISCATAWAY, N.J. -- Despite trailing by as many as 20 points against Rutgers, the Wisconsin women's basketball team rallied back with a late run, but it wasn't enough, as the Badgers ultimately fell, 68-52, in their first conference road trip of the season in Piscataway, New Jersey, on Wednesday night.

"I really liked the fight our kids had in the fourth quarter to get it down and have more cracks at it," head coach Jonathan Tsipis said. "I give our kids credit, I thought they battled hard and it's something we can build off of."

Down by 20 points with just eight minutes left in the game, freshman Suzanne Gilreath keyed the Badgers' turnaround with a rocket of a 3-pointer that started a pivotal 6-0 run for UW. Fellow freshman Kendra Van Leeuwen followed suit and drained a triple of her own to cut the lead to 14 (56-42). The Badgers then forced Rutgers' leading scorer, Aliyah Jeune, to foul out at a critical point in the period with under six minutes to go.

A late surge from post players Avyanna Young and Malayna Johnson pulled the Badgers within 12 with 4:51 remaining. RU's Khadaizha Sanders slowed the Badgers' run by draining a crucial 3-pointer that pushed RU back to a 15-point lead (62-47).

Continuing to fight, it was transfer Ashley Kelsick that cut the deficit to 10 for UW with still plenty of time on the clock by sinking a triple at 3:29. 

Following that however, the Scarlet Knights sealed their victory and kept their lead to double-digits with six made free throws in the final two and a half minutes and didn't allow another Badger basket.

"I think you start putting a little bit more pressure. They've lost a couple of games where they've been up in the last four minutes by eight, 10, 12 points," Tsipis added. "They shot it a lot better, that was kind of the gamble. We wanted to try to take away the high post players. 

"On the other hand, we can't not get to the free-throw line in the first half. We have to take advantage of that and we can't have 22 turnovers. We did a much better job on the glass but you can't have 16 offensive rebounds and just 12 points. The difference right there is that they get 22 points off turnovers and we don't take advantage the same way off of offensive rebounds."

The Badgers got off to a hot start in the first quarter, taking a 6-3 lead through the first six minutes of the game and holding Rutgers to just one basket. But the Scarlet Knights bounced back tallying nine points over a span of two minutes to gather a six-point lead (12-6).

UW came back within four at the 1:50 (14-10) and 0:16 (17-13) marks in the first period, but Jeune gave RU the boost it needed at the end of the period with two 3-pointers in the final minute, giving her eight points in the first period.

The Badgers kept it tight in the second quarter, allowing the Scarlet Knights to outscore them just 11-10.

Van Leeuwen turned the tide for a hard-fought second quarter from Wisconsin, sinking a shot from beyond the arc right off the bat to get her team back within four-point range (20-16, 9:45). Sophomore Howard helped keep the Cardinal and White within four (22-18) at the 8:09 mark in the second, but fell behind again by six (24-18) when Kandiss Barber drilled a jumper at 6:04.

A Gilreath triple gave Wisconsin a breath of fresh air at 4:26 in the second quarter, as she drained a shot from outside to rocket UW within three, 24-21. A layup from Victoria Harris pushed the Scarlet Knights back up to a five-point advantage (28-23) with 3:07 to play until the half, but a 3-point shot from Sanders secured a 31-23 lead for Rutgers at the half.

"I felt like if you can get through the first quarter where they made five, we kept telling the team to let that part ride," Tsipis said. "Let's prove they can do that for a whole game. They made one in the second quarter. 

"We came out and executed well and got it to four, but then let that part take away on the defensive end and ability to get it where we can get a stop. Obviously, Rutgers is going to run the shot clock down. Three or four possessions defensively, I thought we got really deep in the shot clock and then we had a breakdown under five seconds. I think that's just back-breaking. We have to be tougher on that part to just continue to play."

The third quarter was the dagger for the Scarlet Knights, who outscored Wisconsin 20-11. The Badgers let the quarter get away from them, as RU went on an 11-0 run until sophomore Kelsick came up with an answer at 2:37. Kelsick drew a foul and nailed back-to-back free throws to make it 46-32 in Rutgers' favor. Just as soon as the Badgers started climbing back in the last two minutes, Parker hit a 3-pointer that have Rutgers a 17-point edge (51-34) going into the fourth and final quarter.

Wisconsin finished shooting 37 percent (20-54) from the floor with no players in double digits, but 10-of-12 players who hit the floor scored for UW. Rutgers shot 50 percent (24-48) and finished with four players in double digits. The Badgers were led by Johnson with eight points. Both Van Leeuwen and Kelsick tallied five assists apiece.

McMorris led the charge in rebounding with seven boards to help the Badgers outrebound the Scarlet Knights, 37-26. 

Wisconsin took advantage of both second-chance points and points off turnovers, out-scoring RU, 13-8, and, 22-14, respectively.

Wisconsin continues its road trip at Minnesota on Saturday. Tip is set for 5 p.m. (CT) in Minneapolis and the game will be streamed live on BTN Plus.