Jan. 21, 2010
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MADISON, Wis. -- In a battle for second-place in the Big Ten standings, the Wisconsin women’s basketball team saw its four-game winning streak snapped at the hands of Penn State as the Nittany Lions prevailed, 54-43, before a crowd of 4,708 at the Kohl Center Thursday night. Alyssa Karel led the Badgers with 15 points.
The loss drops UW to 15-5 overall and 5-4 in the Big Ten. Penn State improves to 14-4 and 6-2 in the league.
Leading 31-29 with nine minutes left in the game, Penn State would score on seven straight possessions to take a 46-36 lead with four minutes to play. Karel then scored five straight points to cut the lead to five but Tyra Grant answered with a tough bucket in the lane. Lin Zastrow scored down low for UW to again cut the lead to five. Following a Penn State turnover Zastrow drove the lane and scored, seemingly cutting the lead to three points, but was called for an offensive foul. Grant scored again in the lane to make it 50-43 with 1:41 left and Wisconsin would not score the rest of the way.
Grant, who entered the game averaging 22.6 points per game in Big Ten play, led Penn State with 14 points on 6-of-16 shooting. All of her points came in the second half.
The Badgers’ point total was a season low as was their .281 (15-of-57) field goal percentage. Despite the rough shooting night, UW was able to stay in the game most of the night due to their defense. Penn State’s 54 points was more than 15 below its season total and the Nittany Lions had nearly as many turnovers (19) as made field goals (20). PSU won the battle of the boards, though, 41-31 and shot 54.5 percent (12-of-22) from the field in the second half.
Karel was the only Badger to score in double figures. Point guard Rae Lin D’Alie paced UW with eight rebounds while Teah Gant had five assists in 37 minutes, spending most of the game defending PSU’s Grant.
The Badgers trailed at halftime, 21-18, ironically enough, the same exact score as the men’s game at the Kohl Center a night earlier. Like their counterparts on the men’s side, UW stayed in the game with tough defense.
The Badgers shot just 25.8 percent (8-of-31) in the opening frame but limited Penn State to just 8-of-27 (.296) from the field and forced 10 turnovers.
Wisconsin has the rest of the weekend off and is back in action next Thursday at Indiana at 6 p.m. CT.
