MADISON, Wis. – Senior Avyanna Young scored a team-high 14 points, leading the Wisconsin women's basketball team to a 53-41 win over the Rutgers at the Kohl Center Saturday afternoon.
 
The Badgers (7-20, 2-12) have won two straight games at home, bouncing back from a tough road tilt at Maryland. Rutgers (6-21, 3-11) is now just one win ahead of UW in the Big Ten Conference standings.
 
Despite struggling on offense, the Badgers used strong defense to hold the Scarlet Knights to just 27.1 field goal percentage (13-48). The 41 points are the fewest given up by Wisconsin since the 2011 season. 
 
Turnovers plagued the UW offense in the first quarter, but Suzanne Gilreath put UW back on track with a three, making it 10-9 with 4:17 to go. She now holds the UW freshman season record for most 3-pointers.
 
The Badgers hit their stride late second quarter, closing out the first half on a 10-0 run thanks to a trio of 3-pointers. Down 18-13, Gilreath ignited the streak with 4:21 remaining, sinking a deep ball off an assist from Kendra Van Leewen. Roichelle Marble and Van Leeuwen each drained shot from behind the arc and Young added a free throw to make it a 23-18 Badger lead heading into the locker room.
 
It was a tight battle in the third as Rutgers worked their way back to tie the game at 33 with 1:19 remaining.
 
Behind strong free-throw shooting. Wisconsin battled back in the fourth quarter. The Badgers shot 83.3 percent (15-18) from the line in the period to finish the game 21-27 (77.8 percent).
 
NOTES TO KNOW

• Wisconsin won its second Big Ten game of the season, defeating Rutgers for the first time ever.
• Suzanne Gilreath set the UW freshman season record for 3-pointers today with two triples. The 5-4 guard has 54 treys on the year, breaking the old mark of 53 3-pointers set by Jolene Anderson in 2004-05.
• UW held Rutgers to just 41 points in the game, the fewest points allowed since a 62-41 win over Northwestern on Feb. 10, 2011. The Scarlet Knights tied an opponent season low, shooting 13-48 from the field, including 3-10 from 3-point range.

• Junior Cayla McMorris has made 23 straight free throws over the last five games. The 6-0 guard was 6-6 from the line today. The UW record is 29 straight set by Michele Kozelka in 1989.

• The Badgers led a Big Ten opponent at the half for the second time this Big Ten season. Wisconsin went on a 10-0 run at the end of the second quarter to lead 23-18 at the half. The first time was an 82-56 win over Nebraska on Feb. 9.
• Wisconsin outscored Rutgers 10-2 in the second quarter, the fewest points by an opponent in a quarter this season and the first time holding an opponent without a field goal. The Scarlet Knights only two points came from the free-throw line. Rutgers failed to hit a field goal for the final 12:25 of first half.
• After struggling to set to the free-throw line the last two games, the Badgers went 21-27 (77.8 percent) from the line today. UW was 15-18 (83.3 percent) from the charity stripe in the fourth quarter alone to secure its win.
• Redshirt senior Avyanna Young is only three points away from 1,000 for her career. The 6-1 forward scored a team-high 14 points today to bring her career total to 997.  She also had team-high honors with six rebounds. It was the sixth time this season Young has led the Badgers in scoring and the 12^th time she has led the team in rebounds. She also tied her career high with three steals to lead UW.
• Wisconsin drew a season high 6,680 fans for its annual Think Pink/Play4Kay game.
   

THEY SAID IT
"We weren't at our best offensively today, we turned it over 25 times. But when the score was 18-13 and we had held them, and we went on the 10-0 to end the first half, I think you saw that belief (that) we cannot maybe be at our best offensively and still be able to put ourselves in a position to be successful.
 
"We didn't leave any out there. There weren't any times in those free throws, I think that's an important part with the double bonus is that confidence to step up to know it's not just going to be won and you know, Marsha (Howard) goes one for two, Kendra (Van Leeuwen) goes one for two. We didn't have empty trips and that honestly is contagious when you're shooting free throws."
 
-UW head coach Jonathan Tsipis
 
"Like Coach (Tsipis) said, we were definitely upset by what happened on Wednesday and we knew that we haven't been playing our best basketball. We just went out there and did what we do. Our coaches supported us, we supported each other and we had confidence, and we were just ready to get a win."
 
-Senior Avyanna Young
 
WHAT'S NEXT
UW hosts their final home game of the season Wednesday against Illinois. Wisconsin will honor their seniors before the 7 p.m. (CT) tip-off.