A season-high 9,746 fans “thought pink” at the Kohl Center Sunday to watch the Wisconsin women’s basketball team take on No. 19 Ohio State.
But the outcome was not quite as rosy for Badgers fans as Wisconsin dropped an 80-77 decision to the Buckeyes.
“Courageous effort by our team,” Wisconsin head coach Lisa Stone said. “[Ohio State] is a very good team. They are ranked for a reason.”
Senior guard Marscilla Packer led Ohio State (9-4 Big Ten, 18-6 overall) with 23 points. Freshman center Jantel Lavender dominated down low, adding 22 points as the Buckeyes squeezed out the Big Ten road win.
Senior guard Janese Banks led the Badgers with 22 points and nine rebounds, tying a season high. Senior guard Jolene Anderson added 20 points and eight assists, a season high for her.
Wisconsin (4-8, 11-11) started out hot in the first half, soaring to an 11-point lead at the break. Wisconsin caused 12 Buckeye turnovers and held Ohio State’s potent offense to just 31 points at the half.
Banks also scored 18 of her 22 points before the intermission, including a triple with three seconds remaining.
“She was unconscious,” Ohio State coach Jim Foster said. “When a player feels like that, you have to have a heightened sense of urgency. I thought in the second half we did a much better job of having that urgency.”
It was a tale of two halves, as Wisconsin’s lead quickly disappeared. The Badgers’ offense stalled while Packer and Lavender led the Buckeyes on a 15-2 run to start the second session. A Lavender free throw gave Ohio State its first lead since the opening bucket and it never looked back.
“That eight minutes was the reason that [the momentum] switched,” Stone said.
“In that drought, we turned the ball over, didn’t get rebounds and took some crazy shots which allowed a good team to go on a run,” Stone said. “Instead of being in charge, we were in catch up [mode].”
Wisconsin cut the lead to three with less than two minutes remaining and had several chances to push the game into overtime. But Anderson’s attempted buzzer-beater bounced off the back rim and the Buckeyes left Madison victorious.
“Take the fact that we’re playing good basketball at the right time of the year,” Stone said. “We have to pick up the pieces and go back and get Illinois here.”
The Badgers, with six games remaining before the Big Ten Tournament, will host the Fighting Illini Thursday night at 7 p.m.
Fans nationwide sported pink Sunday to support the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association’s “Think Pink” campaign for breast cancer awareness and research. The game, as well as the pink, was televised live on ESPN2 as part of the network’s annual February Frenzy.
