Badgers Can't Halt Boilermakers, Lose 72-67
December 30, 2004 | Women's Basketball
The University of Wisconsin women's basketball team was unable to use its home-court advantage Thursday night at the Kohl Center, falling to No. 20 Purdue 72-67 in the Big Ten Conference opener for both teams.
The Badgers (5-5 overall, 0-1 Big Ten), who were 5-0 at home entering the game, lost for the first time at home this season and had their three-game winning streak snapped. The Boilermakers (8-3, 1-0), meanwhile, beat Wisconsin for the fourth straight time.
UW certainly put up a fight, as three players scored in double figures. Stephanie Rich led the way with 18 points, while Janese Banks and Jolene Anderson tallied 15 and 13, respectively.
Purdue's Erin Lawless was almost unstoppable, scoring 21 of her game-high 29 points in the first half. From the floor, she shot .600 (9-of-15) and was 9-of-10 from the free throw line.
Also adding to PU's victory was Katie Gearlds, who collected 20 points and five rebounds.
'We couldn't score at some opportune times tonight and unfortunately (the game) got away from us,' head coach Lisa Stone said. 'It was the (Erin) Lawless show in the first half, (although) we did a great job on her in the second half.'
After initially falling behind 8-4, the Badgers fought back with consecutive 3-pointers from Rich and Banks and never trailed again in the period.
The two of them worked together on a nice play later in the half. With less than three minutes remaining, Rich made a steal and Banks had the ensuing layup to give UW a 38-28 advantage'its largest'with 2:39 left.
The Badgers had a couple chances to pad the lead near the end of the half, but unfortunately they missed three shots and committed a turnover to go into the break ahead, 38-32.
Purdue notched six straight points and held Wisconsin scoreless for the first four minutes of the second half. Lawless' jumper at 14:30 gave the Boilermakers a 43-42 edge.
A couple of 3-point baskets and a steal was enough for PU to build its lead to 57-47. In all, the Boilermakers were 6-of-14 from beyond the arc.
Anderson had a quiet first half, scoring just five points. She did not score in the second half until she sank a 3-point basket with about five minutes left to bring the Badgers back to within three.
But Purdue held off UW every time it tried to gain some momentum to close out with the win.
'We just couldn't score when we needed to, ' Stone said. '(Purdue's) the 20th-ranked team in the country, and we're playing them right down to the wire.'
The Badgers now hit the road to take on Northwestern at 2 p.m. Sunday in Evanston, Ill.
Game Notes
Wisconsin fell to 13-33 in the all-time series against Purdue ' UW has now lost four straight to the Boilermakers ' head coach Lisa Stone is 0-2 in Big Ten openers ' the Badgers lost their 15th straight against a ranked team ' Stephanie Rich scored in double figures for the fifth straight game ' Annie Nelson notched a career-high 12 rebounds ' Ashley Josephson sat out with a broken nose and is day-to-day ' despite having eight players at 6-0 or taller, Purdue only had a 22-20 advantage in points in the paint and had the same number of rebounds as Wisconsin (40)
Post-game Quotations
UW HEAD COACH LISA STONE
On Second Half:
We talked about that at halftime; I think we got a little bit too comfortable, we didn't come out with that same defensive intensity that we wanted to to start the second half. I think we got outscored 6-0 to start the second half, but I give my team a lot of credit. We hung in there; we battled back. I reminded them of the Green Bay game when we were down by ten with four to go and battled our way back. We couldn 't score at some opportune times tonight and unfortunately it got away from us. That's a good basketball team we just played with some great athletes. It was the Erin Lawless show in the first half, and we did a great job on her in the second half, but Judie Gearlds picked up [her game]. Those are two All-Americans that we're playing.
I give my kids a lot of credit. We turned it over 13 times and stayed even on the boards; we just couldn't score when we needed to.
On the defensive game plan:
We tried to run some multiple defense, and we weren't covering the high post very well. We went to straight man-to-man defense and got some good minutes out of a lot of people. The long and short is that that's a very good team; they made some very tough shots.
On the tough loss:
That's the 20th-ranked team in the country, and we 're playing them right down to the wire, and I give my team a great deal of credit. We'll respond; we're going to make some noise and we're just going to have to chip away here
I felt so good coming into this game. We didn't look like we had a holiday hangover. We're in shape; we did some really good things. We were scrappy; we implemented some new defensive things, and the players responded. It's just unfortunate that it was ripe for the picking, and we just couldn't take it tonight.
PURDUE HEAD COACH KRISTY CURRY
Opening statement:
It's very difficult to win on the road in this league and certainly my hat's off to Wisconsin'well-prepared and they played extremely hard and they fought, fought, fought. It was a great game to watch. I'm just really proud of my team. They're young, but I think our preseason schedule might tonight have gotten us over the hump a little bit, so I'm really proud that we found a way to win against a good basketball team that's very good at home.
Was there a plan of emphasis she had for her team at halftime '
Just more energy. The first four minutes we need to set the tone. I think that you try and give them confidence ' just to make the most of the opportunity. In this league, when you have an opportunity you have a chance to win. Don 't let it pass you by, because you're going to look back and say 'gosh, only if there, only here.' Life's about missed opportunities and this young team, I think you have to constantly remind them that they can do it. I told them I thought we were better, and I'm not being arrogant or cocky, but just to go find a way to win. Don't play not to lose. Play to win. There 's a difference.
Did they make it a point going into the second half to double up on Stephanie Rich'
I think our match-up zone in the second half was a big key to the game, and certainly we played more zone in the second half. We needed to show them some different looks and we needed to shade the shooters and try to keep them off balance a little bit, and we were able to find her (Stephanie Rich) a little bit better in the second half.
We have some size'.It makes a big difference if we can just really be active and have a lot of ball pressure and our zone was successful. We were able to rebound out of it and limit their opportunities for second chance points.
