MADISON, WIS.- The Badgers held firm over Penn State on Saturday to take down the Lady Lions 71-65 and claim their first Big Ten victory.

What stood as a close game with a Wisconsin lead came to tie late in third quarter. The Badgers regained the lead and came back to a tie early in the fourth. Penn State never managed to take the lead outright, and the Badgers fought hard to keep the game in their favor.

Head coach Jonathan Tsipis recognized Wisconsin's hard-fought battle, "I'm really proud of our fight, we had a fantastic second-half run and just kept working," he said. "We weren't perfect, we made mistakes, but we kept working and I'm really proud of our effort." 

Wisconsin was deep with stats spread all over. Four players scored in double-digits, Imani Lewis (23), Niya Beverley (19), Sydney Hilliard (13) and Abby Laszewski (10). Lewis led in rebounds with 14, Hilliard in steals with six and Kendra Van Leeuwen in assists with five.

The stat spread came from what Lewis credits, "The will to win." She continued saying, "They took two games from us last year, and collectively we were really motivated to win this game."

Beverley also contributed, stating, "We all have to want the ball and step up and be there for each other." Her 19 points mark a career-high, beating her previous record of 17.

Van Leeuwen's five assists move her up one spot to sixth place in the record book with 385 career assists.

Lewis' double-double marks her fourth consecutive. Only four other Badgers have ever had four or more consecutive double-doubles in the history of the program. The last time it was done was in the 2001-02 season when Jessie Stomski recorded four. Lewis now has 11 career double-doubles.

Penn State was led in scoring by Kamaria McDaniel with 21 points. Alisia Smith had 13 rebounds.

The Badgers are hitting the road to take on Nebraska on Thursday, Jan. 9, and then Michigan State on Sunday, Jan. 12.