MADISON, Wis. – The Wisconsin women's basketball team used a fourth quarter rally to down Pittsburgh Friday evening in the opening round of the Challenge in the Music City at the Nashville Municipal Auditorium. The Badgers continue their undefeated season, going 5-0 for the first time since 2006-07.
 
Wisconsin had a slow start in the first half, shooting only 10-33 (30 percent) from the field, including 1-10 (10 percent) from behind the 3-point line, and 1-5 free throws (20 percent) but still led 22-21 at the half.
 
After trailing 32-26 in the third period with 4:13 left, Suzanne Gilreath nailed a 3-pointer with 2:18 left in the period to bring the Badgers within four, 34-30. Wisconsin battled to the end of the period to tie the game back up, 34-34.
 
The Badgers carried this momentum into the fourth quarter, outscoring the Panthers, 23-8, to lead the way to victory. UW shot 58.3 percent (7-12) from the field and 90 percent (9-10) from the free-throw line in the fourth quarter.

Wisconsin ended the game shooting 34.4 percent (21-61) from the field, including 16.7 percent (3-18) from 3-point range. The Panthers (2-4) shot 13-43 from field goal range (30.2 percent), including 3-13 (15.4 percent) from 3-point range. The Badgers finished with a 63-2 percent to to a 60.9 percent edge in free-throw percentage but the Panthers made two additional free throws (14-12).

UW was led by freshman Imani Lewis, who scored 18 points and added six rebounds. Redshirt freshman Alex Luehring also finished in double figures, grabbing 10 points while adding two steals.
 
Wisconsin outboarded Pitt 46-33  behind a game-high 14 rebounds from Marsha Howard. 
 
Pitt was led by Danielle Garven and Jasmine Whitney, who scored 15 points and 11 points, respectively.


 

Badgers are 5-0!! pic.twitter.com/ixqWjWREkJ

— Wisconsin Basketball (@BadgerWBB) November 24, 2018

Turning Point

With Pitt up 24-27 at the 2:43 mark of the third quarter, the Badgers went on a 7-0 run to knot the score at 34 at the end of the period. Imani Lewis scored seven straight points for Wisconsin at the start of the fourth quarter to give UW a 41-38 lead with 7:00 to play.  The Panthers cut the lead to two points (43-41) with 5:59 remaining before a 10-0 Badger run, highlighted by four points from Alex Luehring, put the game out of reach.

 

Fun Facts

• Senior Marsha Howard recorded a game-high 14 rebounds, only one off her career best, marking her third game this season with 10-or-more rebounds.
• Junior Suzanne Gilreath and freshman Jasmine Hale saw their first action of the season. Gilreath played 12 minutes, scoring three points while adding one rebound and one assist. Hale played eight minutes scoring two points.
• The Badgers outrebounded their fifth opponent of the season, finishing with a 46-33 advantage over Pitt.
• Junior Kendra Van Leeuwen tied her career best by shooting 4-4 from the free-throw line.
• Freshman Diamond Bragg dished off a career best three assists and also recorded her first career block.
• Redshirt freshman Alex Luehring earned her first career start and also recorded a career-high two steals.

  

Straight from the court

 
Head coach Jonathan Tsipis
On stopping Pitt's momentum in the third
"We talked about anything - we were communicating defensively and making sure we got to specific actions. It is one thing to miss shots, it is one thing to be so amped up that you are not giving yourself an opportunity, and obviously when you make shots it helps calms things down. We were able to get to the free-throw line at the end of that quarter. We made the run to get it tied going into the fourth, and then again you hope your defense and rebounding is helping. I think that is what was able to happen in the third quarter. We didn't allow them to get to the basket in the fourth, which helped us."

On winning these close games
"I think you look at our upper-class leadership. On a day were Marsha Howard isn't getting as many shots to go down and (she is) just continuing to hustle and rebound the basketball. Her chasing down offensive rebounds can be contagious. The younger players look up to her. I think they pulled together as well. There wasn't any sense of panic. I thought we stepped up, guarded, and finished possessions off. I think when you find a way to do it, you continue to have that kind of confidence."
 

Next up

The Badgers continue play in the Challenge in Music City round robin tournament on Saturday at 5 p.m. taking on Tennessee State.