Wisconsin women's basketball (2-5 Big Ten; 4-14 overall) lost to the No. 19 Arizona Wildcats (6-3 Pac Ten; 13-5 overall) this Sunday at the Kohl Center. In a game of seconds, Wisconsin failed to contain Arizona in the last three minutes of play, losing 62 to 55. Wisconsin, playing their fourth game in seven days and coming off a big win at Indiana, showed signs of fatigue late in the game as the Wildcats continued to pour on the pressure.
\Today was what we thought it would be. It was a hard fought battle--we knew it would be a battle and I was really proud of my team,"" Head Coach Jane Albright said.
""When you play four games in seven days it's just a hard thing to do, it's a fun thing to do, but we played down to the three minute mark like I thought we could. The game was tied and we just didn't have it in us to finish it off.""
Wisconsin played excellent defense against a quick team by coming up with more steals and forcing more turnovers than they gave up. The Badgers continued their domination in blocked shots with five, three more than the Wildcats. Wisconsin's defense was also able to shut down Arizona's big freshman center Shawntinice Polk, who only had nine points on the day and fouled out late in the second half. This was one of the goals the Badgers had as Polk averages around 18 points per game and is as tough to stop as a Mack truck.
Sophomore guard Dee-Dee Wheeler also played a major part in Arizona's victory using her speed to score 25 points and pull in eight rebounds in front of a large gathering of family and friends. Arizona played well even though they were down a starter who was home sick and in doctor's care.
The main difference between the two teams was that the Badgers did not shoot very well on offense,making only 32 percent of their shots and were out-rebounded quite soundly on offense and defense.
""We got out-rebounded badly-- that was the key stat. If I was disappointed in one thing that would be would be what it was,"" Albright said. ""They out-rebounded us by 10, that's something that we just need to really be more consistent with, we have the tools to do that, but we were not able to do that.""
The biggest achievement for Wisconsin Sunday was their impressive shooting at the line. Going 100 percent for free throws, making all 17, the Badgers set a new Kohl Center record and tied an all time record that was set back in 1987.
It was a hard fought battle and fans that chose to stay home missed a great game that really displayed the potential of this team. Evenly matched on the court, the two teams fought each other for the lead with Wisconsin holding on to it through most of the game. Arizona preyed on the fatigue of the Wisconsin team, gutting it out to the end and causing frustration to the Wisconsin bench as they pulled away with a minute and a half remaining.
""We're definitely frustrated and disappointed because I think that we're generally hard on ourselves,"" junior center Lello Gebisa said. ""We really felt that we could win this game, we really believed in ourselves ... it came down to the end of the game and a couple missed opportunities toward the end of the game. We really felt like we had this game, [but] all you do is come back, work hard in practice and get ready for the next game.""
Up next for the Lady Badgers is Northwestern Thursday night in Evanston, Illinois.
