MADISON, Wis. — For the first time in eight years, the Wisconsin women's basketball team took down a top-15 ranked opponent, defeating No. 12 Ohio State, 75-70, Wednesday night at the Kohl Center.
Junior Imani Lewis had a career day to lead Wisconsin to victory. The 6-foot-1 forward put on a show, finishing with a career-high 27 points and a game-high 14 rebounds en route to her Big Ten-leading 10th double-double of the season. Lewis shot a crucial 8-10 from the free-throw line and a dominant 75% (9-12) from the field on the night.
Also in the double-double club, sophomore Sara Stapleton scored in double figures in back-to-back games in the first time in her career. The 6-foot-3 post put up 13 points while adding 10 rebounds as the Badgers outrebounded Ohio State 49-34, including pulling down 20 offensive rebounds. Wisconsin scored 19 second-chance points in the contest.
After the first quarter ended in a tie at 18, the Buckeyes jumped out to a five-point lead (27-22) less than three minutes into the second period. Wisconsin followed the push with an 11-point run of its own to take a 33-27 lead with 3:28 on the clock. The Badgers would not trail again as they surged to a four-point first half lead (41-37). Lewis was dominant in the first half, scoring 16 points, including her first 3-pointer of the year.
From there, multiple small Ohio State runs cut the lead to one (52-51) with 1:53 left to play in the third period, but a scrappy Wisconsin defense held off the Buckeye attack, as OSU shot just 37% (6-16) from the field in the third period.
In the final frame, the Buckeyes tied the game twice, including at 66-66 with less than five minutes to play. The Badger defense held off a late Ohio State run as Wisconsin went to the free-throw line 10 times over the last 3:58, making eight. The Buckeyes shot just 1-7 from the field in the final four minutes of play.
Wisconsin shot 46.6% (27-58) from the field for the game, including 3-7 (42.9%) from 3-point range. The Buckeyes shot just 35.8% (24-67) from the field, including 21.7% (5-23) from deep. Both teams went to the free-throw line more than 20 times as a combined 39 fouls were called. The Badgers shot 72% (18-25) while Ohio State hit 65.4% (17-26).
UW dished off 15 assists, behind seven from Sydney Hilliard and five from Julie Pospisilova. Pospisilova had three of the Badgers' five steals and three of UW's 10 blocks.
Hilliard also added 13 points while Estella Moschkau chipped in 10 points, marking the first game since North Dakota on Dec. 13 that the Badgers had four players score in double digits. Pospisilova also finished with eight points and eight rebounds.
Straight from the court
Head Coach Jonathan Tsipis:
"I thought we came out with a great attacking mindset. Our energy, we got to a lot of 50/50 balls today, it got us out in transition, especially in the first half. And then to weather that storm (against) a good team that you know is going to come back.
"I just thought that both Imani (Lewis) and Sara (Stapleton) were so consistent for us inside. I thought different people throughout the game gave us great things. Down the stretch we got the stops. Just really proud of our kids. Throughout the game, I thought we were the team with more enthusiasm and more energy. The bench was doing a great job."
On how well they played over the last four minutes:
"Just to continue communicate defensively and continue the possession. We rebounded it so well. I thought the communication, how we guarded them in the last minute and a half ... we didn't let them score quick. We got a couple deflections and they were forced to take some time outs. We did a good job of stymying runs by Ohio State."
Junior forward Imani Lewis:
"It feels great. I said in my last media (conference) that the hard work is going to pay off. I'm excited about the win. I'm so happy for the win, but I'm so happy that we are now witnessing our hard work pay off."
Sophomore Center Sara Stapleton:
"In today's game, we all tried to really focus on cutting the runs off right away and then have our own big runs."
Notables
- The last time Wisconsin upset a top-15 team was on Jan. 31, 2013, when it down No.7 Penn State, 63-61.
- Junior Imani Lewis leads the Big Ten with 10 double-doubles on the season after scoring a career-high 27 points and adding 14 rebounds against the Buckeyes. Lewis scored just the third 3-pointer of her career and her first this season.
- Sophomore Sara Stapleton picked up her second double-double of her career with 13 points and 10 rebounds.
- Freshman Brooke Schramek recorded a careeer-high two blocks.
Up Next
The Badger are on the road for a Valentine's Day matchup at Minnesota on Sunday. Tip-off is scheduled for 1 p.m. from Williams Arena in Minneapolis. Tune in on Big Ten Network+ and U 100.9 FM radio.
