MADISON, WIS. - Wisconsin took down Eastern Illinois on Tuesday 63-55, never once trailing.
The team has not shied away from sharing stats. Both
Suzanne Gilreath and
Imani Lewis led the Badgers in scoring with 15 points each.
Tara Stauffacher led in rebounds with 10 and
Abby Laszewski and Lewis followed closely with eight each. Senior
Kendra Van Leeuwen had seven assists.
The Badgers intensified the energy in the second half. Head Coach
Jonathan Tsipis confirmed, saying "I was really pleased on how we came out of the locker room tonight, particularly coming out of halftime." Wisconsin went on a 16-3 run in the third quarter.
Lewis felt especially strong in the second half, scoring nine of her 15 points between the third and fourth quarters. She touched on what helped to boost her confidence. "It's all about having a stronger mindset, a better mindset, and knowing that I'm willing and capable of doing anything that comes my way," she said.
Gilreath is chasing the record for both threes made and threes attempted. After going 5-11 from behind the arc, she moves from eighth to seventh all-time in attempts with 526 and is one made basket off from tying sixth place with 181.
Stauffacher saw her first game leading the team in a statistic. Comfortable taking a lead in scoring, she proved her defensive stamina by grabbing 10 rebounds. "I figured if I can't always be the scorer, then I can always get in a rebound or play good defense, so that's the transition I tried to make and I think it turned out well," she said.
Defense was a key part of Wisconsin's game. Eastern Illinois only snagged five offensive rebounds total, while Wisconsin had 32 defensive rebounds and also out-paced the Panther's offensively with 14.
Eastern Illinois was led by forward Abby Wahl with 23 points and seven rebounds. Karle Pace had five assists and Lariah Washington had four steals.
It is wheels up for the Badgers as they head to the Bahamas for their next competition. The team will be competing in the Bahamas Hoopfest, taking on Ball State on Friday and No. 25 Arkansas on Saturday, both games at 6 p.m.
