MADISON, Wis. — Despite three players scoring in double figures and putting together three of its best scoring quarters of the season, the Wisconsin women's basketball team fell to Minnesota, 82-66, on Wednesday night in the Kohl Center.

The Badgers led 5-2 before Minnesota went on a 9-0 run to take an 11-5 lead with 5:08 to play in the first. Wisconsin got hot from 3-point range, hitting four-straight triples to even up the Golden Gophers at 19 with 2:19 to play in the first. Minnesota went on a 6-0 run to lead 27-21 at the end of the first period. 

Both teams cooled off in scoring in the second quarter as UM outscored Wisconsin, 8-5, to lead 35-26 at the half.

The Golden Gophers upped their lead to 14 (44-30) with 7:22 to play in the third before a 10-1 Wisconsin run cut the advantage to 45-40 with 3:56 remaining. Freshman Krystyna Ellew scored eight of UW's points over the run. Minnesota upped its lead to 55-46 at the end of three periods and outscored the Badgers 27-20 in the fourth quarter to hold on for the win.

Ellew led the Badgers with 19 points and also had a team-high six rebounds. Julie Pospisilova added 18 points and five rebounds while Halle Douglass added 12 points.

As a team, Wisconsin shot 39.3% (24-61) from the field, including 40.9% (9-22) from 3-point range. Minnesota shot 49.2% (30-61), including 47.4% (9-19) from behind the arc. The Golden Gophers also outscored the Badgers from the free-throw line, shooting 76.5% (13-17) while UW shot 60% (9-15).

The Golden Gophers were led in scoring by Kadiatou Sissoko with 16 points and eight rebounds. Sara Scalia and Deja Winters each added 14 points. 

UM outrebounded Wisconsin, 37-29, scoring 17 second-chance points.The Golden Gophers also finished with a 32-24 advantage for points in the paint.

Minnesota dished off 18 assists while Wisconsin handed off 13 dimes, including four apiece from Pospisilova and Douglass. Both teams had just 12 turnovers.

Straight from the court

Head Coach Marisa Moseley
"I'm really proud of my teams' effort tonight as we competed for 40 minutes. I challenged them the last couple of days after our Illinois game to try to put together a more complete game, and you could see that with everybody in the team putting forth their best effort. We have to give credit to Minnesota for making big shots when we were going on runs.
 
"We're still not completely healthy, but I am excited for us to be able to build on a lot of the good things that we did this evening. We have to ensure we capitalize on our lay-ups, make our free throws, keep our opponents off the free-throw line and focus on boxing out. As I tell the team, we have to control the controllables and when we do that we will continue to build and grow and come out on top."

Notes to Know

• Junior Julie Pospislova continued her double-figure scoring streak, putting up 18 points, her third-best scoring game of the season. The 6-foot-1 guard has scored in double figures all 13 games she has played in this season.
• Halle Douglass tied her personal bests in points (12) and assists (4). She also tied her career best by going 4-4 from the free-throw line and hitting two 3-pointers.
• Katie Nelson played all 40 minutes, upping her Big Ten-leading minutes per game average to 37.9 minutes.
• Wisconsin scored 20-or-more points in three quarters for the first time this season.
• Minnesota shot an opponent season-high 47.4% (9-19) from 3-point range and also tied an opponent season high with 18 assists.

Up Next

Wisconsin hits the road, traveling to Rutgers on Sunday. Tip-off is 1 p.m. CT from The RAC in Piscataway, New Jersey. The game will be available to stream on B1G+