MADISON, Wis. — Opening the Big Ten home season, Wisconsin women's basketball fell to No. 13 Michigan, 93-81, on Thursday at the Kohl Center.
Highlighted by the best shooting performances and highest scoring games of the season, the Badgers boasted three players in double-digits including leading scorer Julie Pospisilova ending the night with 21 points and four assists, shooting 3-6 from three-point range. Wisconsin notched season highs in both a 52.2% (12-23) overall shooting performance and scoring 81 points on the night too.
Coming up just short of the upset, Wisconsin went on a 8-0 run in the final minutes of the game. The Badgers were forced to foul in the comeback attempt, sending Michigan to a 4-4 shooting run from the free throw line as the clock ticked down.
"I'm continually proud of this team and our fight as well as our commitment to competing to the last buzzer," said Wisconsin head coach Marisa Moseley. "When I took that time out in the fourth quarter, I told them that who we are is a team who's going to compete for all forty minutes."
Michigan got out to an early lead in the first half, but Wisconsin never stopped fighting aggressively. The deciding factor for the 43-31 halftime score was the Badgers being out-rebounded 19-9 by the Wolverines. Michigan left the first half with 12 second-chance points, the exact deficit Wisconsin faced being down at halftime.
The Badgers took an 8-2 run with 4:40 left in the second period, ending the half with five unanswered points thanks to a last second three-pointer from Tara Stauffacher. This burst gave the team momentum and energy out of the break after a near-even 21-18 second period.
The second half started with two quick buckets from Sara Stapleton and Wisconsin cut the Michigan lead down to seven. Freshman Krystyna Ellew added a personal 7-5 run for the Badgers. The guard finished with 18 points and six rebound while shooting a perfect 8-8 from the free-throw line.
"I'm very proud of Krystyna Ellew who came off the bench and had a huge game for us and really started to show exactly what she's able to do," Moseley added. "Tara came in and gave us huge minutes too."
Through the rest of the game, the free-throw line proved friendly territory for the Badgers, shooting 16-22 (72.7%) overall on the night and 6-7 (85.7%) in the second half.
Sydney Hilliard was Wisconsin's third player in double figures boasting 16 points, seven rebounds and seven assists over the Wolverines.
Rebounding improved in the second half for Wisconsin as the Badgers grabbed 24 boards compared to Michigan's 12, but the Badgers couldn't contain the Wolverines post play enough to overcome their first-period deficit. The Wolverines outscored the Badgers in the paint 50-34. Wisconsin ended the night out-rebounding Michigan 33-31.
Straight from the court
"We talk about our bench being difference makers, but what we want to do is continue to build on this. We talked a lot about our slow start, but the way that we are finishing games is just as important. It's the most points and assists we we put up in a long time and I think we want to be able to continue to build."
Up next: Wisconsin will head back into non-conference play when in-state rival Green Bay visits the Kohl Center Sunday at 2 p.m. The Badgers will host three non-conference matchups in a row before heading back into Big Ten play against Purdue on December 30th.
