MADISON, Wis. -- Despite holding No. 18 Ohio State to nearly 19 points below its season average, the Wisconsin women's basketball fell to the Buckeyes, 68-55, on Saturday afternoon at the Kohl Center.

Trailing 35-28 at the half, the Badgers (9-16, 2-10 B1G) began the third quarter on an 8-0 run to lead 36-35 with 6:59 on the clock off a Marsha Howard jumper. It was the first Wisconsin lead since 8:42 in the first quarter (3-2), overcoming a 16-point OSU lead in the first quarter. The Buckeyes (19-5, 8-3) lead 22-6 with 1:54 left in the first period.

Thank you! pic.twitter.com/L7PcVpfljF

— Wisconsin Basketball (@BadgerWBB) February 3, 2018

After the Badgers grabbed the one-point lead, Wisconsin turned the ball over the next four possessions, allowing the Buckeyes to go on a 9-4 run to end the third with a 44-38 lead.

Wisconsin scored the first basket of the fourth quarter to trail 44-40 with just over nine minutes to play before Ohio State rallied. OSU found new life in the period, outscoring the Badgers 9-1 to lead 53-41 with 7:31 remaining. The Badgers cut the lead to eight (58-50) with 4:22 on the clock but a 6-0 Ohio State put the game out of reach.

Junior Marsha Howard led the Badgers with 20 points while senior Cayla McMorris recorded her fifth career double-double with 15 points and 13 rebounds. McMorris became the 25th Badger to record 1,000 career points early in the third quarter, scoring a running layin that made the score 35-32 in favor of Ohio State.

Welcome to the 1,000 club Cayla! She's the 25th player in UW history to reach 1,000! #McBuckets #Badgers || #OnWisconsin pic.twitter.com/6r0AWLzse4

— Wisconsin Basketball (@BadgerWBB) February 3, 2018

UW shot 37.3 percent (22-59) for the game, while Ohio State shot 40.6 percent (26-64). Neither team shot well from 3-point range with Wisconsin hitting just 3-11 (27.3 percent) while the Buckeyes were 4-18 (22.2 percent). OSU went to the line 17 times, making 12 for 70.6 percent while the Badgers shot 66.7 percent (8-12).

Wisconsin out-rebounded Ohio State, 43-37, but struggled with its ball control, turning the ball over 17 times to the Buckeyes nine. OSU tallied 14 steals in the game.

In a televised matchup against the No. 3 scoring offense in the country, Wisconsin was down 22-9 at the end of the first quarter and shooting only 21.4 percent from the field. The Badgers rallied in the second quarter, outscoring the Buckeyes 19-13 to trail 35-28 at the break.
 

Notes to know

• Senior Cayla McMorris notched her 1,000th career point, hitting a driving layup early in the third quarter to pull the Badgers within three (35-32).The 6-0 guard earned a career-high seven assists and tied her career-high with 13 rebounds. McMorris earned her fifth-career double-double and fourth this season with 15 points and 13 rebounds.
• The Badgers became the third team to hold OSU to under 70 points this season. The Buckeyes scored just 68 points, their second-lowest point total of the season.
• Junior Marsha Howard tied her season high with 10 field goals made, putting up 20 points. It was her fourth 20-plus point game this season.
• The Badgers out-rebounded the Buckeyes 43-37 and earned 16 assists to OSU's 14. It marked the third-straight game that UW has out-rebounded its opponent.
• Wisconsin drew a season-high 6,623 fans for its Play4Kay Think Pink game.

 

Season high crowd today! Thank you fans! pic.twitter.com/vEVDZSNpp4

— Wisconsin Basketball (@BadgerWBB) February 3, 2018

 

Straight from the Court:

Head Coach Jonathan Tsipis:
"I thought in the first quarter we played in fear; in fear of the aggressiveness of Ohio State and what they could do. I thought that Cayla (McMorris) made it her mission that we were not going to back down anymore. And getting a career high seven assists and understanding how we got to that area in the second quarter to outscore them, she was a part of that.

"I'm proud that later where we didn't play in fear. Different people stepped up to rebound the basketball. I thought defensively we were able to keep them at bay and keep them out of an offensive rhythm and that's a tribute to our kids. You usually see (Ohio State) scoring 89 points, 94 points or 96 points, and looking at last year when they scored 96 points, so that shows even further (the improvement of our defense)."

On the crowd:
"I think the biggest takeaway from the crowd is seeing all of those young girls in the crowd and wanting to be whether it's a basketball player, softball player, volleyball player, hoping that they see the role models out there. For our fans to stay behind the team and help give us that extra drive, and that's the part I love seeing.

"At the end of the game we always talk about there's a young girl there and that was them one day. Those kids won't be able to tell you the score was 10-9 in the third quarter, 68-55 at the end of the game. They are going to remember when they went and watched (No.) 23 in white worked hard, hustled, dove on the ground, being involved with her teammates. That part was great."

Senior Cayla McMorris:
"I try to come into each game day-by-day, so having my coaches tell that I have three games left. I try to set that leadership example to my teammates. It can go so fast and you only have so many games left, so that's really my mindset every game."

On if 1000 points was on her mind: "Not at all. It was a blessing to be able to get that. I thank my coaches and my teammates to put me in that position, but I'm just worried about playing the game and winning."
 
Up Next
Wisconsin has a bye week and will not compete for another eight days. UW travels to Lincoln, Nebraska, on Feb. 11 against the Cornhuskers at 2 p.m., from Pinnacle Bank Arena.