Wisconsin Badgers
Iowa
Game of runs: Badgers drop close contest to Hawkeyes 78-74
February 26, 2015 | Women's Basketball
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Feb. 26, 2015
IOWA CITY, Iowa. - The Badgers' late second-half comeback against No. 17 Iowa fell just short on Thursday night, with Wisconsin falling 78-74 in the series finale in Iowa City, Iowa.
The Hawkeyes (22-6 overall, 13-4 Big Ten) led by as many as 13 points, at 67-54, with just 3:27 to go, but the Badgers (8-19, 4-13) stormed back and cut the deficit to just three twice with less than a minute to play before Iowa sealed its four-point victory.
"We get hot, but you have to play some defense," UW head coach Bobbie Kelsey said. "(If) you don't play one end of the floor, you have to buckle down and really be more intentional on the other end. But I'm proud of them anyways in spite of the loss."
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Four Badgers scored in double digits, led by a double-double from senior Jacki Gulczynski with 19 points on 5-for-7 shooting from 3-point range and 11 rebounds. Junior Nicole Bauman added 18 and kept UW in the game, scoring 12 of Wisconsin's final 20 points. Junior Dakota Whyte scored 14 points and dished out a team-high seven assists, while junior Tessa Cichy chipped in 10 points.
"It's disappointing. Once again same story, different day," Kelsey said. "But again these kids are battling. We had four people in double figures."
Wisconsin finished the game shooting 48.2 percent from the field while the Hawkeyes hit 43.1 percent. The Badgers stayed in the game with 55.6 percent shooting from beyond the arc, making 10-of-18, while Iowa shot just 28.6 percent from 3-point range.
Both teams battled evenly to start with a tie game at 7-7 with 17:23 to play in the first half. The Hawks led 19-17 with 12:24 to play before a 6-0 run pushed Iowa up 25-17 with 8:00 left in the half.
But the Badgers countered with a 5-0 run to cut the Hawkeyes' lead to just three, at 25-22, with 5:59 to play. A steal from freshman Cayla McMorris led to a layup for Bauman to make it to a one-possession game, 29-26, at the 4:15 mark.
Iowa used another 6-0 push to lead 35-26 with 2:38 remaining, but a 7-0 UW run to close the half pulled the Badgers within two, 35-33, at the halfway mark.
The Hawkeyes came out flying to start the second, hitting two 3-pointers to propel an 8-0 run and take a 43-33 lead with 18:57 to go.
The Badgers came storming back again, however, with an 11-0 run to go up 46-45 at the 15:26 mark, UW's first lead since the game's opening minute.
Back-and-forth play led to a tie game at 52-52 with 12:20 to go before a nearly nine-minute field goal drought for the Badgers led to a 13-2 spurt for Iowa to put the Hawkeyes up 67-54 with 3:27 remaining.
A 3-pointer from Gulczynski ended UW's cold spell and sparked Wisconsin's comeback, with the Badgers draining four 3-pointers in under three minutes to pull UW within 73-70 with 56 seconds on the clock.
A layup from the Hawks' Bethany Doolittle put Iowa up five, at 75-70, with 36 seconds to play before two free throws from Bauman cut it to three once more with 21 seconds on the board. However, the Badgers would get no closer as an Iowa layup and free throw in the final 21 seconds sealed the win.
Iowa was led by 22 points from Doolittle, while Samantha Logic added a double-double with 20 points and 10 rebounds. Ally Disterhoft wrapped up Hawks' double-digit scoring with 17 points.
"(Samantha Logic) is a talented player and she hit some tough shots," Kelsey said. "We hit some tough shots, too. Doolittle really put them over the top for the most part. Logic is going to do her damage but Doolittle really made some nice buckets there at the end."
The Badgers outrebounded Iowa 38-33, led by 11 from Gulczynski. Wisconsin scored 10 second-chance points to Iowa's eight, while both teams battled evenly down low with each scoring 28 points in the paint.
UW dished off 15 dimes and turned the ball over 18 times, while Iowa tallied 17 assists and committed just nine turnovers. Wisconsin notched eight steals behind a career-high four from senior Cassie Rochel, while Iowa recorded four.
Wisconsin wraps up the regular season at Penn State on Sunday. Game time is 1 p.m. from University Park, Pennsylvania.
