MADISON, Wis. – Avenging an earlier season loss, the Wisconsin women's basketball team held off a last-minute Illinois comeback Wednesday night at the Kohl Center. The Badgers downed the Illini, 75-67, to pick up their fourth Big Ten Conference win of the season.
 
Wisconsin (13-14, 4-11 BIG) played aggressive from the beginning, including a full-court press in their first defensive possession resulting in an Illinois 10 second violation giving the ball to the Badgers.
 
UW traded buckets with Illinois (10-17, 2-14 BIG) in the first half, which included seven ties and four lead changes. A 7-0 UW run with a 3-point buzzer beater from junior Suzanne Gilreath extended the Badger lead to seven (36-29) at the half.
 
Illinois grabbed four quick points less than a minute into the third quarter to come within two points (36-34), but that was as close as it would get. Wisconsin led by as many as 12 points (52-40) with less than a minute left in the third quarter and a 10-0 run extend the Badger lead to 17 points (69-52) with just 1:37 left to play.  
 
The Illini knocked down two 3-pointers and continued to fight, coming within six points of UW (71-65) with just 22 seconds left. The Badgers secured the win from the free-throw lin, sinking four of six free throws in the final seconds.
 
Senior Marsha Howard was nearly unstoppable, leading the game with a double-double of 27 points, including two from 3-point range, and 10 rebounds. The 6-foot forward also two steals on the night.
 
Sophomore Niya Beverley contributed 14 points and added a game-high four assists. Junior Suzanne Gilreath also scored in double figures for the Badgers with 11 points, including two from 3-point range.
 
Freshman Imani Lewis tallied a game-high 12 rebounds as the Badgers dominated off the glass, 42-27.
 
UW shot 48.1 percent (25-52) from the field, including 6-14 (42.9 percent) from beyond the arc, and 19-30 (63.3 percent) from the free-throw line. The Illini shot 42.6 percent (26-61) from the field, including 9-24 (37.5 percent) from 3-point range, and 6-9 (66.7 percent) from the charity stripe.
 
Wisconsin outscored the Illini 28-18 in the paint and 20-9 from the bench.



 

AT THE HORN!@BadgerWBB's Suzanne Gilreath buries a three at the buzzer as Wisconsin takes a 7-point lead over Illinois at halftime!#OnWisconsin pic.twitter.com/e3YBgfPbX7

— Wisconsin On BTN (@WisconsinOnBTN) February 21, 2019

 

Notes to know 

• Senior Marsha Howard scored in double figures for her seventh straight game, leading all players with 27 points. She also recorded 13^th career double-double, adding 10 rebounds.
• Sophomore Niya Beverley scored in double figures in her fourth straight game, adding 14 points.
• The Badgers scored their second-most points in a Big Ten game with 75. Wisconsin also shot 48.1 percent, its third-highest field goal percentage in a conference game this season.
• Imani Lewis set the UW freshman season record with 143 free-throw attempts.
• Wisconsin wins four Big Ten games for the first time since the 2014-15 season.
   

Straight from the court

"When you play teams twice and you don't get the result you want the first time, to be able to have a team that knew what we are striving for in consistency. The first stat we talked about for a team stat was the ability to rebound tonight. Obviously it does a lot of things, it triggers your transition game, it does not allow them to get confidence baskets and to hold them to four offensive rebounds is great.
 
"I thought we had a great pace to start the game. Obviously, Marsha (Howard) is playing really well for us, scoring the ball in different areas. Never thought I'd see (her shoot) three 3-pointers in one game, but again she sees that to hit a jumper to start the second half, and then calmly step into the three later, it is great action.
 
"Marsha is the calming influence when they made the run to get it to seven and we called timeout with about seven minutes left in the fourth quarter and we responded as a team.
 
"In the Big Ten, teams aren't going to give up and hats off to Illinois for that, but I'm just really proud of our group."
 
"The greatest thing, and I hope everybody can see it, is that these guys having a smile on the floor playing. I think that joy comes from the seniors knowing that their time is limited, but still being locked in."

    - Head coach Jonathan Tsipis 


"The finish line is very close. I'm just going out and giving it all I have every game, knowing time is limited, and bringing my teammates with me. It was a great game today. Everyone contributed today in different ways and being able to hold out on that stretch was awesome.
 
"My motivation comes from this being my last season and everyone being super supportive of both me and Kelly (Karlis), as well as Lexy (Richardson). Our teammates just wanted to go out there and fight to the finish. I try to help rally after coach gives his speeches, huddling up afterwards, and letting everybody know that we're fine. We're going to keep fighting until the clock says zero."

    - Senior Marsha Howard   


"(Alex Wittinger) has a great jump shot, so we were trying to not let her get anything easy. We tried to stay up in her space, and challenge her on every shot and contest every shot. It's hard both ways. She has to fight to get position and I have to fight to get in front of her, so it's tiring both ways for sure."

    - Senior Kelly Karlis 

Up next

The Badgers head to New Brunswick, N.J., to take on Rutgers Monday night for the first time this season. Game tips off at 6 p.m. CT.