Strong First Half Propels Wisconsin Past Florida
November 25, 2001 | Women's Basketball
Despite the warm tropical weather of the Virgin Islands, both #23 Wisconsin and #12 Florida were plagued with cold shooting throughout tonight's consolation game at the Paradise Jam Tournament.
Due to tight zone defenses on both ends of the court, the two teams combined to make only 38% of their field goal attempts, but the Badgers took advantage of a strong first-half effort to beat the Gators 61-49. UW improves to 2-1 on the season, while Florida drops to 2-2.
Ten minutes into the game, the defensive-oriented nature of the contest became clear as Wisconsin was shooting 4-14, while Florida had made only three of its 13 shots. The Gators took their largest lead of the game, 12-7, at the 10:38 mark of the opening frame, but from that point on the Badgers dominated the first half.
Tri-Captain Jessie Stomski scored eight of her team-high 17 points to power a 23-11 Badger run that ended the half and gave Wisconsin a 30-19 halftime lead.
The Badgers maintained their lead throughout the second half, building their largest advantage, 45-26, on a Kyle Black three-point basket with 12:01 left in the game. The versatile Wisconsin offense that saw five different players hit three-pointers kept Florida on the ropes.
The Gators refused to give up, however, and chipped away at UW 's lead, mounting a 12-3 run to close to within ten points, 48-38, with 5:19 left to play. Freshman guard Stephanie Rich iced the game for the Badgers with a three-point basket on the ensuing possession, and Florida was never able to get closer than eight points the rest of the way.
Stomski grabbed seven rebounds to go along with her team-leading 17 points, and center Emily Ashbaugh added ten points on 5-6 shooting. Point guard Tamara Moore compensated for a poor 1-8 shooting performance by pulling down a team-high eight rebounds and dishing out eight assists.
Center Vanessa Hayden paced the Gators with a double-double of 22 points and 13 rebounds. The Badger defense, however, harassed Hayden into making a game-high ten turnovers against one assist. Guard Brandi McCain just missed a double-double of her own with 10 rebounds and nine points.
The Badgers return home to the Kohl Center to take on Cleveland State this coming Tuesday, November 27 at 7:00 PM.
