The Wisconsin women’s basketball team’s (2-9 Big Ten, 9-15 overall) first half scoring draught doomed UW, as the Minnesota Golden Gophers (6-3, 17-5) battled to a 61-51 victory over the Badgers.
"Collectively with our team though there were so many things we left out there tonight, there were opportunities that we didn't take advantage of, you have to credit that to Minnesota,” head coach Jonathan Tsipis said. “To dig a hole and go through that long scoring drought from the end of the first quarter through the second quarter, to then kind of scratch and claw for the rest of the game.”
The Gophers offense was spearheaded by sophomore guard Gadiva Hubbard’s 22 points, senior guard Carlie Wagner’s 20 points and redshirt junior guard Kenisha Bell’s 12 points.
Hubbard’s night was that of offensive consistency as she managed to get into double figures in both halves, with ten points coming in the first and 12 points in a much more efficient efficient second half.
“Over this week and half break before practices I would get up shots and after practice I would get up shots,” Hubbard said. “I was determined to get some shots up tonight, so I was just happy they went in and that was cause my feet were set.”
Wagner’s performance tonight was a tale of two halves as well, as the senior guard managed only five first half points points, and was a perfect five for five from behind the arc, scoring 12 of her 15 second half points in the a three minute span in the third quarter.
“I think during that stretch I gained confidence after I hit one of my three’s and then I was like okay, it only takes one sometimes to get it going,” Wagner said. “I had enough space and my feet were set so I was just letting it fly and they went in.”
Much like Wagner, Bell’s performance was a tale of two halves, as in the first half she scored ten points and only managed to get two in the second half.
“She’s a physical guard that tries to get to the rim and she creates a lot of the contact and that’s what a lot of good players do,” Tsipis said. “I thought Niya held her positioning (defensively) and made her take shots that were a little bit more off balance.”
Wisconsin’s defense held Minnesota to its third-lowest point total of the season, which is impressive as the Gophers were the second highest scoring team in the Big Ten entering Wednesday night.
UW’s offense was led by Minnesota native, sophomore forward Courtney Fredrickson’s 18 points. She was accompanied by junior forward Marsha Howard’s 15 points and freshmen guard Niya Beverley’s 10 points.
Fredrickson tied a career-high with 18 points and grabbed a new career-high in rebounds as she managed to grab 14.
“It was pretty much the same mindset for me coming from the last time we faced them,” Fredrickson said.
Howard, after only playing four minutes and not scoring at all against Illinois on Sunday, pulled a Big Sean and bounced back with 15 points in 29 minutes and tied a career high with three steals.
Beverley did not score when the teams met earlier in the season, but managed to get 10 points against a tough veteran Gopher backcourt Tuesday night.
“I knew I had to be more aggressive to help my team have a better chance at winning,” Beverley said. “Coach is always on me to be more aggressive, so that was definitely in the back of my mind throughout to be more aggressive in this game.”
The Badgers’ next game will be at the Kohl Center Saturday afternoon, as they will look to contain senior guard Kelsey Mitchell and the No. 18 Ohio State Buckeyes. Tipoff is slated for noon.
