Playing in their twelfth conference game of the season, the Wisconsin women's basketball team (3-9 Big Ten, 11-14 overall) fell to No. 18 Purdue (19-5, 8-3), 58-48.
At the beginning of the game both teams came out of the locker room hot. The Badgers managed five steals, two by senior guard Tiera Stephen which brings her total for the season in all games up to 72. Purdue had four steals and scored four points off fast breaks.
The game pace eventually began to slow as Wisconsin tried to pick apart Purdue’s zone defense and conduct a good defensive plan of its own. Junior forward Cassie Rochel attained a career high seven blocks while assisting the Badgers on defense.
Wisconsin’s defense was adequate enough to allow the Badgers to walk to the locker room with a 28-20 lead at half time. However the Boilermakers came back with a vengeance in the second half and improved their shooting percentage from 25.7 percent to 50 percent. Purdue was making shots in the second half and shooting 5-for-8 on three-pointers. Four of those came from Purdue junior guard K.K. Houser, who already had one three pointer in the first half.
Head coach Bobbie Kelsey expressed her frustration with the Badgers not covering beyond the arc in the second half of play.
“We’re standing right in front of Houser, we just can’t do that," she said. "I don’t know what the problem was but we’ll figure it out.”
The Badgers certainly appeared to be giving more space at the beginning of the second, their defense may have dimmed but their offense stayed strong lead in points by sophomore guard Jacki Gulczynski. She had 19 points and four fouls with eleven minutes left in the game. Gulczynski’s absence wounded Wisconsin’s offense and Purdue head coach Sharon Versyp recognized Gulcyzynski’s fourth foul as a turning point in the game.
“She is a key player, it’s hard to defend against a post player that shoots the three so well," she said. "She’s really savvy and really good.”
The top scorer of the night however was Houser. She scored 20 points for the Boilermakers, dished out four assists and managed one steal. Houser only had three points in the first with 17 minutes of playing time. Houser accounted for the change in shooting percentage from the first half to the second.
“It wasn’t a change in their defense, we just came out and started making shots.”
The Badgers will next travel to Illinois to continue their regular season play.
