Badgers down Kentucky to advance in WNIT
March 22, 2009 | Women's Basketball
Led by a career-high 18 points from Tara Steinbauer, the Wisconsin women's basketball team advanced to the quarterfinals of the Women's National Invitation Tournament. The Badgers (19-14) downed the Wildcats 49-45 in the defensive battle in front of 1,169 fans in the Kohl Center on Sunday.
Wisconsin will host St. Bonaventure (22-10) in the WNIT third round on Thursday in the Kohl Center. Tip-off is at 7 p.m.
- sportid=135&storyid=17363"> --> Wisconsin Coach Lisa Stone Quotes
- sportid=135&storyid=17364"> --> Kentucky Coach Matthew Mitchell Quotes
- id=10644"> --> Boxscore
- sportid=135&storyid=17367"> --> Game Notes
- id=9665"> --> Wisconsin Cumulative Stats
- postid=2032"> --> Gameday Blog
- mid=3232"> --> Replay Web cast of game (Video)
- mid=3233"> --> Post-Game News Conference (Video)
- mid=3234%20"> --> Game Highlights (Video)
Steinbauer led all scorers with 18 points, with 13 coming in the second half. She hit 6-of-10 from the field and 6-of-8 from the line. Steinbauer made two free throws with eight seconds left to seal the Badger win. The 6-1 forward was also Wisconsin's leading rebounder with eight boards.
Both teams struggled offensively as the Badgers hit only 31.7 percent (19-of-60) from the field while Kentucky connected on 27.5 percent (14-of-51) of its shots from the field. Neither team shot well from 3-point land as Wisconsin was 2-of-9 and the Wildcats went 2-of-12.
Alyssa Karel and Caitlin Gibson added eight points apiece for the Badgers.
Kentucky was led by Eleia Roddy and Carly Ormerod with 11 points each. Victoria Dunlap led all players with 12 rebounds while Roddy added 11 boards. The Wildcats finished with 46 rebounds while Wisconsin tallied 39 boards.
UW had better ball control, chipping out 15 assists while turning the ball over only 10 times. Karel led all players with four dimes and zero turnovers. The Badgers also had 10 steals led by three each from Karel and Teah Gant.
The Wildcats turned the ball over 19 times while totaling only six assists and five steals.
Wisconsin jumped out a 7-2 lead as three Badgers scored early on. The Wildcats made it 7-4 at 14:17 but neither team scored in the next 5:24. Anya Covington broke the scoring drought with a basket underneath to put the UW up 9-4 with 8:41 left in the half.
Covington's basket started a 5-0 run for the Badgers, allowing Wisconsin to take it biggest lead of the game (12-4) with 7:08 remaining. Kentucky finally scored after a 7:34 drought, tallying four straight to pull within four (12-8) with 6:12 on the clock.
The two teams traded baskets down the stretch with the Wildcats hitting a shot as time ran out to make it 19-16 at the half.
The game was tied for the first time early in the second half as Kentucky scored the first bucket, a 3-pointer from Ormerod. The Wildcats outscored the Badgers 14-4 to open the second period, taking a 30-23 lead with 11:40 remaining.
Behind Steinbauer, Wisconsin went on an 11-2 run over the next three-and-a-half minutes to regain the lead at 34-32 with 7:27 on the clock. Steinbauer had six points, including back-to-back buckets, during the run.
Kentucky knotted the score again at 34 with 7:06 remaining before Gant scored underneath to put Wisconsin up for good with 6:49 remaining. UW made 4-of-5 from the free throw line to seal the win and advance in the tournament.
