Badgers Fall For First Time
November 28, 2006 | Women's Basketball
The Wisconsin women's basketball team (6-1) was defeated for the first time this season with a 52-50 loss at UC Riverside late Tuesday night. Junior Danielle Ward tallied a double-double with 10 points and 11 boards, her first of the season.
The game was tied at 50 with 1:40 to play. After both teams failed to score on their next possessions, the Badgers had the ball with the game still knotted up. Anderson missed a bucket and UC Riverside pulled down the board. An unfortunate foul by Janese Banks on the other end sent the Highlanders to the charity stripe with seven seconds left to play.
Kemie Nkele made both free throws to put UC Riverside up by two. A last-minute attempt from UW freshman Teah Gant was blocked at the buzzer.
In a game that had six and six ties, Wisconsin was scoreless over the last 3:12 turned a six-point lead into a two-point loss.
'You can look at it a lot of ways. We were up comfortably and took some ill-advised shots,' Lisa Stone, UW head coach, said. 'We didn't shoot the ball really well but our team wasn't ready to play tonight. We only scored 50 points. We didn't attack the basket. I give them a lot of credit. That was a team that was hungry to win.'
Junior Jolene Anderson, who shot just 2-of-15 from the field, finished the game with five points. Anderson's steak of 35 consecutive games in double-figure scoring ended against the Highlanders.
The Badgers were not at full strength with four players suffering flu-like symptoms during the past 24 hours, including both points guards, Rae Lin D'Alie and Sarah Ingison. Neither attended shootaround and both played limited minutes with frequent substitutions.
UW scored the first six points of the second half to lead 34-28 with 17:13 remaining. Riverside found its stroke with an 8-2 run to come within 38-36 with 13:07 left. Riverside took advantage of UW fouls to take the lead, 44-42, with 6:35 left. There was little flow to the game with so many stoppages due to fouls and turnovers. Danielle Ward picked up her fourth foul with 7:05 left and had to sit until 3:15. She reentered the game with a team-leading 10 rebounds and eight points.
Wisconsin had difficulty finding its shooting touch in this fast-paced, turnover plagued game. UC-Riverside went out fast to a 10-4 lead with 15:16 to go in the first half. Wisconsin's defense kicked in limiting the Highlander's possessions while outscoring UCR 18-5 to take its greatest lead of the half, 22-15 with 7:24 remaining.
UCR tied the game at 22 with 4:47 left, and it was back and forth until the halftime buzzer, 28-28. The Badgers, who average 17.5 turnovers per game, had 13 in the first half and finished 11-27 from the floor for 40 percent.
'It's a long season and we had a lot of things to work on,' Stone continued. 'We are making positive strides. We have a few games at home and we are looking forward to it.'
Roney Friend led UC Riverside (2-4) with a game-high 14 points. The Highlanders were picked to win the Big West Conference.
Wisconsin plays host to Southern Mississippi at 7 p.m. Friday in the Kohl Center, the first of a four-game homestand for the Badgers.
