BEMIDJI, Minn. – Wisconsin women's hockey defenseman Mikaela Gardner scored two minutes into overtime to lift the top-ranked Badgers to a 4-3 overtime victory over Bemidji State on Friday at the Sanford Center.

Gardner fired the puck top shelf after a scrum in front of the Bemidji State (12-13-2, 7-9-1-1 WCHA) net to lift the Badgers (24-1-0, 15-0-0-0 WCHA) to their eighth-straight victory.

Senior Claudia Kepler put the Badgers up 1-0 with less than four minutes to go in the first as the puck fluttered past Bemidji State netminder Lauren Bench to give UW a 1-0 lead. It marked the fourth-straight game that Kepler, a co-captain, scored in.

Here's a look at Captain Claude's goal! pic.twitter.com/aqrX4nVS9M

— Wisconsin Hockey (@BadgerWHockey) January 20, 2018

Freshman Caitlin Schneider scored midway through the second period off feeds from Delaney Drake and Sophia Shaver to double the UW lead.

Kepler was back to her scoring ways later in the second period, tipping in a Mekenzie Steffen shot while on the power play to give the Badgers a 3-0 lead.

However, the Beavers would score on a rush late in the second to make it a 3-1 game before scoring twice in the final five minutes to send the game into overtime.

Three Notes to Know

• UW won its 13th straight game against Bemidji State, a streak that dates back to Jan. 17, 2015.
• Sophomore goaltender Kristen Campbell saw her shutout streak of 286 minutes, 26 seconds end against the Beavers. That streak ranks fifth in program history behind only streaks that Patty Kazmaier Memorial Award winners Ann-Renee Desbiens and Jessie Vetter earned during their time with the Cardinal and White. Campbell ended the game with 29 saves, matching a season high.
• Junior Sophia Shaver recorded two assists, marking the second-straight game she's recorded multiple assists.  

Play of the Game
Gardner scored her sixth goal of the year in the extra session, launching the puck top shelf after a scrum in front of the net distracted the BSU defense.

Here's a look at Gardner's game-winning goal in OT! #OnWisconsin pic.twitter.com/exKKTe8wwR

— Wisconsin Hockey (@BadgerWHockey) January 20, 2018

Straight from the Rink
UW head coach Mark Johnson
On today's win:
"We got a nice power-play goal today. We had a little adversity the last five minutes of the game, giving up a couple goals so there's an opportunity to learn from that experience. The big thing is, we found a way to win. Mikaela Gardner makes a nice play and the puck finds the back of the net and we walk away with a nice victory."

On Claudia Kepler's performance:
"She's a good goal scorer. She's been that way even prior to getting to Madison. She's trying to create opportunities and get opportunities. For kids who are natural goal scorers, they're going to get a bunch of goals. It's a good sign and it builds some confidence in her. Hopefully she'll be able to continue to do that as we move down the stretch here."

On what to expect from Bemidji State on Saturday:
"The last 12 or 14 games, Bemidji State has done really well. They've played some good competition. They beat Minnesota. They beat Minnesota Duluth. They're playing well, and we knew coming into tonight's game that it was going to be a tough battle. We talked about competing for 60 minutes and trying to outwork them, and tomorrow is going to be no different. It's going to come down to who decides to work harder and capitalize on their opportunities."

"It was an exciting game today both ways with a lot of shots on nets and a lot of good plays out there. Again the bottom line is that we find a way to win. We'll look forward to tomorrow and try to do the same thing."

Senior forward Claudia Kepler
On today's win:
"I think we started out a little shaky but as we move on towards the second half, we're definitely going to have some breakdowns. Teams are getting better towards the second half. I'm extremely proud of the way our team responded, especially in overtime. That was probably the best five minutes of play I've seen our team play in a while. It was good."

On lessons from today:
"It's great experience to be able to learn how to respond. What we saw was that our team became even closer together. We started to work harder together and that's what's most important. We became an even better team when we were down."

Junior defenseman Mikaela Gardner
On her overtime goal:
"I saw a big scrum in the middle of the net and we tried to stay back knowing that it was OT. We wanted to be cautious, but then I saw the puck come out so I figured since it was a scrum and an open puck, I might as well try to shoot it for a rebound and I found the back of the net."

Up Next
Wisconsin and Bemidji State wrap up their series on Saturday with a 3 p.m. contest at the Sanford Center.