Badgers Fall on the Road to Hoosiers
January 31, 2008 | Women's Basketball
Jolene Anderson was the only Badger to record double figures in Thursday night 's loss to Indiana on the road. The Hoosiers shot over 50 percent in the game finishing with five players in double digits, never allowing Wisconsin to get close, topping UW 86-62 at Assembly Hall.
The loss drops UW, who has yet to beat a Big Ten team on the road, to 10-10 overall and 3-7 in the conference. Indiana improves to 13-8 overall and 6-3 in the league.
Indiana set a fast pace racing to a 21-10 lead halfway through the first half and extending it to 17 points at the half, 42-25. Janese Banks lead the Badgers with five, while Big Ten-leading scorer Jolene Anderson, had yet to score.
At the half, the leading scorer for IU was the Madison freshman Lin Haley with 14. She hit 4-of-6 3-pointers. But the real story of the game was turnovers. UW had 15 and Indiana had 22 points off Badger mistakes. IU finally cooled to 47 percent from the field after hitting 56 percent earlier in the half, finishing 7-of-15 from 3-point land after shooting a sizzling 67 percent earlier. UW needed quality possessions in the second half to gain ground, as well as get more shots off. IU took twice as many (17-36) as Wisconsin (9-19 for 47 percent).
Wisconsin returned energized for the second half, but continued to make errors, 23 for the game. Trailing 54-28 with 15:43 left, UW had an 8-2 spurt to come within 56-36 with 13:29 left. The scoring giant awakened in the second 20 minutes, as Anderson collected six of those points. The senior guard scored five-straight buckets to bring the Badgers within 67-49 with 8:07 left. That was the closest UW would come as IU extended its lead to the final
Anderson scored all 23 of her points in the second half but it was too little too late for Wisconsin. She was UW's only double-figure scorer. The Badgers couldn't match IU's 50 percent shooting from the floor, nor the distribution of scoring as IU had five players in double-figures led by Whitney Thomas with 16 points. IU made hay on Badger turnovers as Wisconsin suffered tied its greatest margin of defeat this season, 86-62.
Anderson ended the game 10-of-19 from the field for her 23 total second-half points. She also finished with six rebounds. Sophomore Mariah Dunham added nine points for UW, also grabbing six boards, while freshman Tara Steinbauer was 3-of-6 from the field for eight points. Janese Banks total seven points and five rebounds in the game.
Indiana finished with five players in double figures, highlighted by stellar shooting from beyond the arc Whitney Thomas collected 16 points shooting 6-of-11 from the field, Amber Jackson ended with 15 points and four boards, while Haylie Linn also added 15 points hitting 4-of-8 on the long ball and 5-of-9 from the field. Kim Roberson contributed 13 points and six boards and Wisconsin native Jamie Braun tallied 12 points, grabbing nine rebounds.
The Badgers head to Nittany Lion territory on Sunday at the Bryce Jordan Center for a 1 p.m. matchup. Just last week Wisconsin topped Penn State by 27 points at the Kohl Center, 79-52.
UW shot 41 percent to Indiana 50.8 percent. Wisconsin out-rebounded them. Indiana leads the league in steals and finished with 12 tonight. Wisconsin had 23 turnovers and Indiana collected 28 points off the turnovers (22 points came in the first half).
See sportid=135&storyid=12893"> --> Game Day Blog for more details.
Wisconsin Post-Game Notes
' Attendance: 916
' Indiana has won eight of the last 10 games in the series since UW's win in Bloomington in 2003
' The Badgers have played four overtime contests in Bloomington for a 1-3 record and beat IU in two over times at the 2005 Big Ten Championship.
' Jolene Anderson needed just six points to move into ninth in Big Ten career scoring surpassing Carol Ann Schudlick of Minnesota who had 2,097. Anderson now has 2,115 career points.
' Anderson needs just 102 points to break the all-time scoring record at Wisconsin, set by either a male or a female. Former Badger Alando Tucker holds the record with 2,217 points set during the 2006-07 season.
' Jolene Anderson has scored in double-figures in 108 of 113 career games; she has scored a 3-pointer in 97 of 113 games.
' 86 is a season-high opponent score against UW.
' Indiana finished with just 12 turnovers, a season-low turnovers by a UW opponent.
UW Head Coach Lisa Stone Quotes
On UW's turnovers (20 in the first 25 minutes of play): 'It's hard to get into a flow when you are turning it over. I thought Indiana did a very fine job defensively on us. It was nothing that we weren't expecting. We were intimidated on both sides of the ball. We rushed on offense, took back shots and weren't intimidating the defense. And then defensively, they got whatever they wanted. Haylie Lin, from right down the road, knocks down 14 in the first half and Jamie Braun goes off. And we get them into foul trouble and make them go small but then they light it up with seven threes in the first half. Our defense was very sub-par.
But, you talk about defense, rebounding and taking care of the basketball, those three areas really plagued us tonight. They really did. We didn't box out the 3-point line, we didn't take care of the basketball, defensively we couldn't get the stops ' you can't give up over 40 points in a half. And, you know, Jo only took two shots in the first half. That's largely because we were turning the ball over and couldn't get it to her. I challenged my seniors at half time. I said, 'Put your arm around her and see them jump on your back.' I thought it was a bit more courageous. We came out with some fire in the second half, but still turned it over. In the first 25 minutes of the game, we turned it over 20 times. '
On the loss: 'It is just tough. I wish I could feel better about this but I don 't. I feel empty. Because I thought coming in we had good energy. I thought our approach and our mindset was good. Just the start of the game. It didn't go our way. We were rushing shots and turned it over. Turnover, turnover, turnover, not even attempting a basket. Those are things that worked in our benefit in the last two games. We have to find a way now. Now we are going to another venue where Wisconsin has never won. So the past doesn't get any easier, but I tell you what, our toughness will. We showed some courage in the second half. I thought we played really hard. We always play hard and I am proud of the kids for that.'
