MADISON, WIS. — After a back-and-forth Big Ten battle for three close quarters, Wisconsin fell 82-66 to No. 18 Northwestern in the Badgers' final game of the home season on Saturday.
Seniors
Abby Laszewski and
Kendra Van Leeuwen showed their leadership for the Badgers scoring 14 and 10 points respectively, while sophomore teammate
Imani Lewis chipped in 12 points.
Northwestern was led in scoring by Lindsey Pulliam with 28 points. She was followed by Veronica Burton with 15, Abi Schied with 13 and Sydney Wood with 12. Schied led the Wildcats in rebounds with nine.
Wisconsin honored its four seniors —
Suzanne Gilreath, Laszewski,
Grace Mueller and Van Leeuwen — and early-graduate
Kara Crowley in a pre-game ceremony with their families. The five Badgers all saw action against the Wildcats on the Kohl Center floor one final time.
"I want to make sure they are duly recognized because they're great women," said head coach
Jonathan Tsipis. "Things have not gone the way that I think they predicted from the start of any of their recruiting cycles. I can say it has been an unbelievable joy of mine to watch these young women grow on and off the floor.
"I think it's really important that they were never going to be judged here with their legacy on wins and losses. They are going to be judged on their impact. They impact each other with great friendships. They impact those who come after them and those who have helped them on the journey. ... They have built this unbelievable experience to set themselves forward."
Laszewski's 14-point tally marks her 19th double-digit game of the season. She also led the team in blocks as she swatted three against the Wildcats. She now has 126 career blocks and holds fifth place in the program record book.
"It's been an amazing experience here the last four years and being a Badger," Laszewski said. "Today is happy and sad, but we are grateful for the experiences we had and the friendships that came from it. The Kohl Center is a great place to play, so we will all miss it."
Van Leeuwen's own double-digit scoring game saw her go 4-6 from the field and 2-3 from behind the arc. The team leader in assists, she also advanced her career-total to 431 after dishing out three. That mark holds third place in the record-book for the Canadian native. Van Leeuwen also sits in fifth place for most consecutive games played at 122 and is tied with LaTonya Sims for third for most games started at 120.
"It's definitely a bitter-sweet moment," Van Leeuwen said. "Just being able to play on the court one more time, look around and see everyone who supports you and has gotten you to where you are today — it's definitely happy."
Lewis recorded an impressive 17th career double-double against Northwestern with 12 points and a team-high 11 rebounds. With 12 double-doubles on the season, she holds fifth place in the record book. For career, she is tied for seventh with Lisa Bonnell and Taylor Wurtz.
Gilreath, earning her 10th start of the season, collected an assist and a steal for her team, in addition to notching a defensive rebound.
"It was a happy moment, but a sad moment knowing it was the last time we were going to be playing in the Kohl Center with our amazing teammates and coaching staff," Gilreath shared. "The sad part is that we have to leave the fans and the children that have looked up to us, but we know we have made an impact on their lives."
Mueller and Crowley received energetic crowd applause when they stepped on the floor for the Badgers. Today's game marks Mueller's 10th career appearance and Crowley's 35th appearance for the Badgers.
"It meant the world. This is game number 10 for me in the books. It was amazing," said Crowley. "Regardless of what I've been able to do on the court or off the court, I'm just thankful for this whole thing. Coming up in Wisconsin, this is just something you dream of. It's something that you dream up and I'm just thankful for it."
Next up, Wisconsin has one final regular-season game at Rutgers on Feb. 27 before heading to Indianapolis to compete in the Big Ten Women's Basketball Tournament on March 4-8.
