Feb. 28, 2010

Box Score |  Box Score |  Quotes |  Gameday Blog |  Post-game news conference

 

MADISON, Wis. - Despite a late Badger rally that sent the game to overtime, the University of Wisconsin women's basketball team fell to Iowa 68-60 in overtime at the Kohl Center on Sunday afternoon.

The Badgers rallied back from a 13-point deficit early in the second half before a season-high crowd of 11,369 to send the game into overtime. However, Iowa outscored Wisconsin 12-4 in the extra frame to earn the series sweep over the Badgers.

The loss, coupled with Michigan's win over Purdue, gives the Badgers a tie for third place with Iowa in the final Big Ten Conference regular-season standings. The Hawkeyes hold the advantage in head-to-head play, so Wisconsin will have the fourth seed in this week's Big Ten Tournament.  UW will play Purdue on Friday at approximately 7:30 p.m. at Conseco Fieldhouse in Indianapolis.

Wisconsin (20-9, 10-8 Big Ten) was led by senior Rae Lin D'Alie's 15 points. Sophomore Anya Covington posted her second career double-double with 12 points and 11 rebounds. Junior Tara Steinbauer also added 11 points for UW.

Kamille Wahlin led all players with 20 points for Iowa (17-12, 10-8 Big Ten). The Hawkeyes also received 19 points and 14 rebounds from Kachine Alexander.

Iowa closed the first half with a 12-0 run, capped by a buzzer-beating three from Alexander to take a 33-21 lead at halftime.

After trailing by as many as 13 (39-26) with 16:57 remaining, the Badgers used a late second-half rally to send the game to overtime.

Wisconsin trailed 48-41 when Jade Davis drained a 3-pointer with 7:58 on the clock to spark a 9-2 run. A layup by Steinbauer tied the score at 50-50 with 6:02 remaining, but the Hawkeyes answered with two 3-pointers to take the 56-50 lead with 2:17 to play.

A Gant layup and two D'Alie free throws brought Wisconsin within two at 56-54 with 1:14 remaining. However, time was not on their side as the Badgers still trailed by two with 20 seconds to go and were forced to foul. Wahlin went to the line and missed the first attempt.

Iowa's Morgan Johnson then fouled Covington on the rebound with 19 seconds on the clock. Covington went to the line and made both free throws to tie the score at 56-56.

Jaime Printy missed a jumper for Iowa with five seconds to play and Teah Gant grabbed the rebound. She threw it up from just inside the half-court line but missed, sending the game to overtime.

A D'Alie layup opened the extra frame and gave the Badgers their first lead since the 14:04 mark of the first half. However, Iowa responded with a 7-0 run to take a 63-58 lead with 37 seconds to go.

Covington hit a jumper to bring UW within three, 63-60, with 28 seconds remaining, but the Hawkeyes sealed the victory from the line. Iowa made 5-of-6 free throws in the final 26 seconds of overtime.

Three-point shooting was the game's tell-tale stat as Iowa went 11-of-23 (47.8 percent) from 3-point range compared to Wisconsin's 5-of-24 (20.8 percent) from beyond the arc.  The Badgers shot 36 percent from the field to Iowa's 41.9 percent.

Wisconsin held the advantage in rebounding at 43-38. The Badgers had 17 turnovers compared to 13 by the Hawkeyes.

Today's game marked the final contest at the Kohl Center for UW seniors D'Alie and Gant. The pair was honored in a ceremony following the game along with a special introduction prior to the game. D'Alie and Gant rank first and second, respectively, in the UW record books for career games played at 129 and 128.

The Badgers will compete in the Big Ten Tournament in Indianapolis this week, having earned a first-round bye for the first time under Coach Lisa Stone and for the first time since 2001. Wisconsin is slated to play Purdue in a quarterfinal game on Friday at approximately 7:30 p.m.