IOWA CITY, Iowa – The Wisconsin women's basketball team never gave up in a tough battle at No. 17 Iowa Monday night. The Badgers fell to the Hawkeyes, 71-53, at Carver-Hawkeye Arena.
 
Freshman Imani Lewis led the Badgers throughout the game, hitting her fifth double-double by the third quarter and continued to dominate. The 6-foot-one forward recorded a career-high and a team season-high 22 points while adding 11 rebounds. Junior Abby Laszewski also shot in double figures with 10 points while senior Marsha Howard grabbed 10 boards.
 
Wisconsin (10-6, 1-3 BIG) grabbed the first points of the game and continued to fight back and forth with five lead changes in the first. Down 11-7 at the 5:30 mark in the first period, the Hawkeyes (11-3, 2-1 BIG) went on a 14-2 run to lead 13-21 at the end of the quarter.
 
Despite a strong second quarter, the Badgers struggled in the second half. Iowa scored the first four points of the third quarter to lead 38-27 with 7:36 on the clock. Wisconsin went on a 7-2 run to pull within six (40-34) with 5:18 remaining in the third but the Hawkeyes used an 11-0 run to up their lead to 51-34 with 2:34 left in the period, putting the game out of reach.
 
UW struggled with turnovers in the second half, including seven in the third quarter alone, to finish with 17 giveaways. Iowa took full advantage, scoring 23 points off of the turnovers.
 
The Badgers shot 40.7 percent (24-49) from the field, but just 25 percent (3-12) from 3-point range. Wisconsin also struggled from the free-throw line, shooting 2-12 (16.7 percent).
 
Iowa shot 46 percent (29-63) from the field, below its season average of 51.6 percent, and 33.3 percent (6-18) from beyond the arc. The Hawkeyes also connected on 70 percent (7-10) from the charity stripe.
 
UW outrebounded the Hawkeyes, 40-36, while also continuing to lead opponents in points off the bench, 14-10.
 
Iowa was led by reigning Big Ten Player of the Year Megan Gustafson, who recorded a double-double with 21 points and 12 boards. Three other Hawkeyes scored in double figures, Hannah Stewart (11), Makenzie Meyer (10), and Kathleen Doyle (15).


 

New career high 20 points for Imani!
Q4 - 4:27 | Iowa 61, Wisconsin 49 pic.twitter.com/wOKJroyDVq

— Wisconsin Basketball (@BadgerWBB) January 8, 2019

 

Notes to know

• Freshman Imani Lewis scored a game-high 22 points, tallying a new career best. The 6-foot-1 forward also added a team-high 11 rebounds for the fifth double-double of her career.
• Redshirt senior Kelly Karlis dished off a career-high five assists.
• Junior Abby Laszewski and Kendra Van Leeuwen both scored their 300th career point. Laszewski scored 10 points to bring her career total to 306 while Van Leeuwen scored seven points to bring her career total to 304 points.
• Wisconsin outrebounded its first Big Ten team this season, edging the Hawkeyes 40-36 in boards.
• The Badgers struggled from the free-throw line, shooting a season low 16.7 percent (2-12).

 

Straight from the court

"I thought our kids fought tremendously hard and rebounding the ball well.
 
"Iowa pushed the lead out in the third quarter because we didn't take good care of the basketball. Every possession is important, you don't have a lot of room for error."
 
"Imani had a break-out game and she did it in a variety of ways – made jump shots, she took it hard to the hole, made post moves, she got on the offensive glass, and to be able to do that against this team speaks to the ability that she has."
 
    - Head coach Jonathan Tsipis
 

Up next

The Badgers return home to the Kohl Center on Sunday after three straight Big Ten road games to battle it out with the Indiana Hoosiers. The game tips off at 2 p.m. Game day promotions include Sunday Kids' Day, Scout Day, and post-game autographs from your favorite Badgers.