MADISON, Wis. – Despite losing their final game of the tournament on Sunday night, the Wisconsin women's basketball team was crowned champions of the Challenge in the Music City Music Row Bracket with a 2-1 record. UW won the tie breaker, giving up the fewest points in the tournament.
Senior
Marsha Howard was named the tournament MVP and junior
Kendra Van Leeuwen was named to the all-tournament team.
In the final round of the tournament, the Badgers dropped a nail biter to Arkansas, 69-68, in the final minutes on Sunday night.
Wisconsin (6-1) had a slow start in the first quarter, with its largest deficit of seven points, 14-7, at the 4:45 mark in the first quarter. Redshirt
Alex Luehring made a 3-pointer with 7:32 left in the second quarter to grab UW's first lead (24-22) of the game. The Badgers shot just 39.4 percent (13-33) from the field in the first half.
The Badgers came out strong in the third quarter taking a 44-33 lead with 6:57 to go in the period on a 11-2 run. UW grabbed the largest lead for either team of 15 points, 50-35, at the 4:12 mark in the third. Wisconsin had held Arkansas to just two points in the period until the Razorbacks went on a 11-2 run over the last 3:36 to make it just a six-point game (52-46) at the end of three quarters.
Arkansas rallied to tie the score at 54 with 6:06 to play In the fourth quarter but it was a five-point game for the rest of the contest. UW was up by one, 68-67, with 16 seconds to go but a steal and a layup by Arkansas' Malica Monk scored a layup with only 11 seconds left to put the Razorbacks up 69-68. The Badgers had a chance to win but a turnover proved costly with three seconds on the clock.
Van Leeuwen and freshman
Imani Lewis both grabbed double-doubles. Van Leeuwen had 12 points and a career-high 12 assists while adding eight rebounds. Lewis led the Badgers with 13 points and 12 rebounds. Howard also scored in double figures with 10 points.
As a team, UW shot 42.9 percent (27-63) from the field, including 25 percent (7-28) from 3-point range, but managed just 53.8 percent (7-13) from the free-throw line. The Badgers scored well off the bench, finishing with a 24-6 advantage.
Arkansas, which shot 36.9 percent (24-65) from the field, was led by Chelsea Dungee, who tallied a game-high 20 points.Free throws made the difference in the Arkansas win as the Razorbacks shot 16-28 (57.1 percent) from the charity stripe.
Turning Point
Arkansas outscores the Badgers 23-16 in the fourth quarter for the win.
Fun Facts
- Freshman Jasmine Hale scored a career-high eight points against the Razorbacks, shooting 4-10 from the field.
- Freshman Imani Lewis shared game-high honors with a career-high 12 rebounds. The 6-foot-1 forward recorded her third double-double of the season, adding 13 points.
- Junior Kendra Van Leeuwen recorded a career-high 12 assists. Her total ties for eighth on the UW single-game record list. The 5-foot-10 point guard also recorded her first career double-double with 12 points.
- The Badgers were outrebounded for the first time this season with the Razorbacks edging Wisconsin 44-43.
Straight from the court
Head coach Jonathan Tsipis
On Arkansas' comeback
"They got some easy baskets in transitions. I thought we had done a good job with eliminating those until that point. We were going back and forth between man and the zone and they are just an explosive team. I thought our kids fought. We put ourselves into position, but we needed one more stop.
"We have to grow as a team. Some kids are too concerned - whether it is foul trouble or missing some shots - is taking away from their moxy defensively and again
Kendra Van Leeuwen, 12 points, 12 assists, and eight rebounds, did a great job for us. We have to get the ball into
Marsha Howard's hand. But again, you are hoping you would get the ball in bounds and at least get to the free-throw line."
Next up
The Badgers return home to the Kohl Center on Wednesday to duke it out with Duke at 8 p.m., as part of the Big Ten/ACC Challenge. The game airs live on the Big Ten Network.
