UNIVERSITY PARK, PA. – The Wisconsin women's basketball team fell to Penn State in a hard fought battle, 71-64, on Thursday night.
 
UW was led by senior Marsha Howard recording her sixth double-double this season, with a team-high 20 points and career-high 15 rebounds. Freshman Imani Lewis and junior Suzanne Gilreath also shot in double figures with 11 and 10 points, respectively.
 
Wisconsin (10-5, 1-2 Big Ten) started the game down 11-3 but was able to capitalize on a 9-0 run to take the lead 12-11 with 2:42 left in the frame. UW outscored the Lady Lions (8-6, 1-2 BIG) 19-15 in the period, but the battle was just beginning.
 
In the second quarter the Lady Lions outscored UW 21-12 to take a 36-31 lead into halftime after shooting 45 percent (9-20) in the frame.
 
The third quarter was nothing short than a continuation of the battle for the lead as the Badgers chipped its way back to lead 39-38 at the 7:08 mark in the period, but the Lady Lions took a 49-47 lead heading into the final quarter.
 
Penn State came out strong in the fourth with a 3-pointer made at 9:16 in the period went on an 11-4 run. A huge 3-pointer by junior Suzanne Gilreath at the 2:32 mark, would bring UW within four points of PSU, but that was as close as it would get. The Lady Lions made 10 free throws down the stretch to grab the 71-64 win.
 
UW shot 33.9 percent (21-62) from the field, 3-15 (20 percent) from 3-point range, and 70.4 percent (3-15) from the line. Penn State edged UW shooting 37.3 percent (25-67) from the field, 25 percent (5-20) from beyond the arc, and only 64 percent (16-25) from the free-throw line.
 
Penn State out rebounded the Badgers 45-43.
 
PSU was led by Teniya Page with a game-high 23 points and Siyeh Frazier who recorded a double-double with 10 points and 11 rebounds.

 

Marsha finishes with a team-high 20 points and game-high 15 rebounds, which ties her career best, to lead the Badgers. pic.twitter.com/MZvE3dJkF4

— Wisconsin Basketball (@BadgerWBB) January 4, 2019

 

Notes to know

• Senior Marsha Howard picked up her sixth double-double of the season, scoring a team-high 20 points while pulling down a game-high 15 rebounds, which ties her career best. The 6-foot forward now has 11 double-doubles in her career.
• Junior Abby Laszewski recorded four rebounds in the game to earn her 200^th career board.
• Redshirt senior Kelly Karlis tied her season best, shooting 4-4 from the free-throw line. Wisconsin shot 70.4 percent (19-27) from the charity stripe for the game, its third time this season shooting 70 percent or better.
• Penn State shot just 37.3 percent (25-67) from field goal range, the 11th UW opponent to shoot under 40.0 percent this season.

 

Straight from the court

"I thought we collected ourselves early and had a good ending to the first quarter. We were aggressive, we got to the free-throw line, and we were doing a good job at the glass.

"As we got to the second half, I thought we attacked and we got back into the game, but we had some opportunities in the fourth that on the road, we cannot leave out there. We had a couple of missed layups, some empty possessions, and 16 turnovers.  But when Suzanne hit the 3-point, we had a chance, plenty of time, and timeouts to use."

    - Head coach Jonathan Tsipis
 

Up next

The Badgers continue their road swing with a trip to Iowa City to take on Iowa. Tip-off on Monday at Carver-Hawkeye Arena is at 7 p.m.