Badgers drop first loss of season at home against Drake

Wednesday, November 18

Kohl Center

7:00 PM

Wisconsin Badgers

1-1

Drake University

2-0

Drake

Wisconsin

Badgers drop first loss of season at home against Drake

November 18, 2015 | Women's Basketball

Box Score

Bauman leads Wisconsin with 18 points

MADISON, Wis. – On the heels of a home-opening Saturday afternoon win against Louisiana Tech, the Wisconsin women's basketball team fell on Wednesday night, 89-70, at home to Drake.

"We're going to go back to the drawing board," head coach Bobbie Kelsey said following tonight's game. "We did a good job on the offensive boards but they were crashing in and coming down on us."

At halftime, Wisconsin (1-1) had committed 11 turnovers and Drake (2-0) had only committed nine. In the second half, UW turned the ball over seven times while forcing Drake to turn it over 14 times.

The Badgers were led in points by senior guard Nicole Bauman, who tallied 18 on the night. Following close behind with 16 points was fellow senior guard Dakota Whyte, while junior forward Avyanna Young and senior forward Michala Johnson had 13 and 12 points, respectively.

"We have to do a better job of running the offense," Kelsey said. "When we ran the offense, we scored."

Senior guard Tessa Cichy led the Badgers with six boards, while Johnson and Young tallied five rebounds each.

Whyte also tallied a career high-tying mark of five steals on the night.

Drake's Lizzy Wendell led all players with 20 points, as the Bulldogs had five players in double-digit points on the night.

The Bulldogs began the first quarter with a quick 8-0 run, but a steal and a quick layup from Whyte sparked the Badgers' offense and put the team on the board.

Through back-and-forth action, both teams battled, but the Bulldogs were able to pull away paced by a 3-pointer from Maddy Dean. Heading into the second quarter, Drake sat ahead of the Badgers, 17-10.

Although Drake began the action in the second quarter with a quick layup, the Badgers answered back with a pair of layups from Bauman and sophomore Cayla McMorris to close the gap to five points.

The Bulldogs answered back with a 5-0 run, but it was ended with a quick jump shot from Cichy.

Despite the effort put forth by UW heading into halftime, six 3-pointers from the Bulldogs shut down the Badgers in the second quarter, bringing the score to 45-33 heading to the locker room.

An 8-0 Drake run late in the third quarter was quickly ended by a jumper in the paint from Young. McMorris was sent to the line after a Bulldog foul and sank one of two free throws, but Drake answered back quickly with a 3-point play to give rise to the largest lead of the game, 69-49.

Bauman sank a 3-pointer near the end of the third quarter, and then was sent to the line shortly after to attempt three free throws after being fouled outside the arc. The guard sank all three to bring the score to 69-55 heading into the final quarter.

The Badgers made a stride early in the fourth quarter, as Whyte sank a quick jumper for two. The momentum switched back-and-forth as the Bulldogs answered with a layup, but Bauman was right behind them with a layup of her own.

After a series of free throws from both teams, the Bulldogs led the Badgers, 77-66, but the Badgers were unable to close the gap with just over four minutes remaining.

Drake ended the game with a pair of back-to-back 3-pointers and a series of three free throws to come out on top, 89-70, over the Badgers.

The Badgers head out on a five-game road stint, beginning on Sunday in Dayton, Ohio as Wisconsin takes on Dayton in a 1 p.m. (CT) game.