No. 11/12 Notre Dame Gets Past Wisconsin, 77-72
December 04, 2005 | Women's Basketball
The Wisconsin women's basketball team (4-3) was defeated by No. 11/12 Notre Dame 77-72 Sunday at the Kohl Center. Jolene Anderson led the Badgers with 16 points while rookie Caitlin Gibson pitched in a personal-best 12 in her first career start.
After Notre Dame led by three at halftime, Wisconsin senior Ashley Josephson (Okalaska, Wis.) made a lay-up to tie the game at 62 with 8:50 to play. After several possessions that resulted in no points, Notre Dame's Breona Gray gave the Fighting Irish the lead with a 3-pointer at 6:03. The Badgers got back within two, 67-65, with 3:06 to play but Notre Dame responded once again with a bucket by Megan Duffy.
The Badgers still hung around and trailed by just three, 73-70, with 23 seconds left on the clock. Josephson fouled Notre Dame's Tulyah Gaines, and she missed the free throw shot, but the Fighting Irish pulled down the board and got the ball to Duffy. Duffy was fouled immediately and connected her free throws to make it a two-possession game with 21 tics remaining.
'I am proud of our kids,' Lisa Stone, Wisconsin head coach, said. 'They battled hard and we fought well. We had a courageous performance by some banged up players and the kids didn't flinch. Notre Dame has one of the best point guards in the country in Megan Duffy and she made some key free throws but we had a chance with the missed one at the end.'
Wisconsin was outrebounded for the first time this season, collecting 27 boards to Notre Dame's 34. The Fighting Irish also shot 55.1 percent from the floor (27-of-49), the best of any Badger opponent this season.
Sophomore Shari' Welton (Calumet City, Ill.) also made her first career start along with Gibson (Jefferson, Wis.).
Janese Banks (Indianapolis, Ind.) and Josephson both finished with 11 for Wisconsin.
Duffy led Notre Dame with a game-high 20 points. Lindsay Schrader also tallied 13.
Wisconsin will close its three-game homestand at 7 p.m. Thursday when the Badgers play South Dakota State at the Kohl Center.
Wisconsin (4-3) 72, Notre Dame (6-0) 77
Kohl Center
Madison, Wis.
Attendance: 5,455
Game Notes
' Notre Dame leads the all-time series with Wisconsin, 5-2, including the previous three meetings. The Fighting Irish were ranked in the Top 25 in those three games.
' The Badgers are 2-2 in the Kohl Center this season.
' Freshman Caitlin Gibson and sophomore Shari' Welton made their first career starts today against Notre Dame.
' Senior Ashley Josephson returned to the court at 16:02 in the first half after missing the Marquette game because of an injury.
' Gibson set a personal-best with 12 points in 24 minutes against the Fighting Irish. Her previous career high was five against Hawaii.
' Wisconsin was outrebounded for the first time this season. Notre Dame pulled down 34 boards to UW's 27.
' The game today was the second time this season the Badgers have had four players score in double figures (Anderson 16; Gibson 12, Banks 11, Josephson 11). The first time was against Cleveland State.
' Wisconsin did improve on its shooting from the field, notching .438 (28-of-64) in the game. The Badgers had previously tallied a .314 shooting percentage against Marquette and season-low .306 against DePaul.
' Notre Dame's shooting percentage of .551 (27-of-49) was the best of any team Wisconsin has faced this season. ND's free throw percentage of .800 (20-of-25) also was an opponent best.
' Notre Dame head coach Muffet McGraw missed her second consecutive game due to illness. She did not make to the trip to Madison.
Postgame Quotes
Wisconsin Head Coach Lisa Stone
On the team's performance:
'I am proud of our kids. They battled hard and we fought well. No more woulda, shoulda coulda's. We had a courageous performance by some banged up players and we were potentially going to go without three starters and the kids didn't flinch. I am proud of their efforts, and had we played like this on Friday, we would have had a different story. Notre Dame has one of the best point guards in the country with Megan Duffy and she made some key free throws but we had a chance with the missed one at the end. I think a star was born in Caitlin Gibson today. I'm so proud of her and her performance.'
On two first-time starters (Caitlin Burke and Shari' Welton):
'We've talked a lot about getting Caitlin tough, and if you know her you know she is as sweet as ever, but she showed some toughness and a look in her face that we need. We're on the up rise here. I can't commend the fans enough for being here today. I thought this was going to be our breakout moment. Unfortunately we came up short and we can't be satisfied with that. Again, hats off to Notre Dame, they've got a great point guard in Megan Duffy and our best wishes to (Notre Dame head coach) Muffet (McGraw).'
On Janese Banks:
'Her gutsyness is contagious throughout our team. We are banged up a little bit, and I'm not making excuses, but Janese played very courageously and she made some aggressive plays, and that affects our team. It is tough, but now we have some time to prepare for our next home game and get back on track. This is a different basketball team. We had a chance today, and we could have folded our tent and we didn't. We continued to battle, down by three with a chance at and unfortunately we just came up short. We'll get back at it though.
On playing Big East teams:
'They do get us ready for Big Ten play, and it's like a measuring stick. A week ago we were playing DePaul and whatever they are ranked, now today we are playing Notre Dame, one of the best teams in the country. We can play with them. We can get there, we just have to take care of business, especially here at home.
Notre Dame Associate Head Coach Conquese Washington
Opening Statement:
'I thought this was a great team effort by our players. We had a lot of people step up and make some significant plays, in particular in the second half. I just thought it was a tremendous team effort, and the thing we wanted to focus on was rebounding, and we out-rebounded them, so we're pretty happy right now with being able to come in here ' it's a tough place to play, the fans are great. It was loud, it was a great atmosphere, and so we just wanted to come in here and battle, and I thought we did that.'
On the poise Notre Dame showed down the stretch:
'A lot of that goes to senior point guard and captain, Megan Duffy. She had displayed tremendous poise and confidence and I think everybody else fed off of that. She wasn't rattled at all. She's played in big games before and she just had a lot of confidence. I think she exuded that confidence and everybody else picked up off of that.'
On the stretch where they held Wisconsin scoreless:
'I think the key was we got a little more energy. There was a lull there where we didn't score. There was a time out and we talked about how we had to pick up our energy and our intensity on defense. We had some pretty quick and athletic perimeter players out there who were able to stick with Anderson and Banks and make them take tough shots. We were able to do that and then we rebounded when they missed. '
On not having head coach Muffett McGraw:
'There is definitely a big void there. We miss her, but we also really try to take our game up another level because we want to do better for her. We want to make sure that she doesn't have to worry about this team right now, and all she has to worry about is just getting healthy. I think everybody takes ownership in that. It motivates us every day in practice and it motivates us in the games that we 've had. We want to win for Coach McGraw.'
