Nov. 19, 2009
Final Stats | Gameday Blog
MADISON, Wis. - An 8-0 run late in the game led the Wisconsin women's basketball team to a 64-55 win over UW-Milwaukee on Thursday night. The Badgers win their first road game of the season at the Klotsche Center in Milwaukee and improve to 2-0 on the season.
"This is a tough place to play and we'll take the win," said UW coach Lisa Stone. "When you're on the road, you expect to have some adverse situations but I'm proud of our kids for overcoming those situations."
Wisconsin controlled most of the game, leading by 14 points in the middle of the first half. The Panthers (2-1) didn't lead until 8:30 left in the game when they took a 48-47 lead on two free throws from Lindsay Laur. Two free throws from Tara Steinbauer with 7:14 remaining put the Badgers back up 49-48 but UWM tied the score at 49 off a free throw from Jenilee Klomstad.
That's when Rae Lin D'Alie went to work, tallying two 3-pointers to lead the 8-0 run, putting Wisconsin up 57-49 with 3:57 remaining. The Badgers would up their lead to 60-50 with 1:19 left in the game, a lead that Milwaukee could not overcome.
"What I love about Rae is that she's such a fighter," said Stone of her senior point guard. "She got the ball in her hands at the end of the game at important times."
D'Alie was one of four Badgers in double figures. Steinbauer led the UW with 15 points while D'Alie chipped in 14 points. Freshman Taylor Wurtz recorded her first double-figure scoring performance as a Badger, tallying 11 points. Lin Zastrow chipped in 10 points for Wisconsin.
The Panthers were led by Laur with 19 points while Klomstad recorded a double-double with 12 points and a game-high 10 rebounds. UWM out-rebounded the Badgers 42-31. Wisconsin was led by Zastrow with eight boards while Steinbauer pulled down seven.
"(Milwaukee) rebounded the basketball - that's one of their greatest strengths but we got them to turn it over," said Stone. "I thought we did a decent job against the zone. But it was the little things. You have to do the little things right."
Wisconsin forced 20 turnovers by Milwaukee while the Badgers turned the ball over only seven times. UW had 11 steals, including four from D'Alie. Led by a career-high seven assists from Teah Gant, the Badgers dished out 17 dimes.
"The bottom line is that I thought we got really good looks tonight. The ball didn't go in the basket but that's what you have to do," said Stone. "Your defense is always there when you're shots aren't going in and when you have games where your shot's not going in and you have only seven turnovers, that helps a lot."
The Badgers shot 39.0 percent from the field, hitting 23-of-59, including 9-of-21 from 3-point range. Wisconsin was 9-of-12 from the free throw line, not going to the line until the last seven minutes of play.
"I give lots of credit to Sandy (Botham) and the Milwaukee team. They did a great job," said Stone. "We could not find a way to get to the free throw line."
Wisconsin jumped out to an 11-point lead, going up 15-4 with 13:12 remaining in the half. The Badgers controlled the play early on, upping their lead to 14 (28-14) with 6:54 remaining on a Taylor Wurtz 3-pointer. UW was scoreless for more than four minutes as Milwaukee cut the lead to three with 2:45 remaining.
An Emily Neal 3-pointer ended the Badgers' scoring drought with 2:20 left in the period. The two teams traded buckets as Wisconsin maintained its lead as Wurtz hit a driving layup with only one second left to put the Badgers up 35-29 at the half.
"I challenged our team at halftime," said Stone. "I talked about toughness. It was a short speech because we talked about toughness, (about) how when you're tired you have to work through fatigue. When you have to grind it out, you have to grind it out. It was a great lesson for our team because this is what we had to do tonight."
Wisconsin returns home to host Cleveland State (1-1) on Sunday in the Kohl Center. Tip-off is at 1:30 p.m.
