The 45th meeting between the Wisconsin women's basketball team (5-9 Big Ten, 7-18 overall) and the Iowa Hawkeyes (6-8, 14-11) ended in a loss for the Badgers at home on Senior's Day.
One senior that played well for the Badgers was forward Kristi Seeger who had 16 points on the day. Sophomore guard Stephanie Rich had a great day as well, accounting for 21 of the team's 59 total points and playing defense well enough that she came away with five steals.
Wisconsin played tough all through the first half and started the second half on a 17-5 run, playing with a hot hand and the intensity to match it. Unfortunately for them, that hand went cold and the Hawkeyes went on a 19-2 scoring run in the last eight minutes to end the half, winning by a score of 76-59.This added another tough loss to a Wisconsin team that has been trying so hard to put games away but has not been able to.
\I know this was a really hard game for my players to lose,"" said Head Coach Jane Albright. ""It was one that they had prepared very well for and really put their hearts on the line.""
One Iowa player that the Badgers had a hard time containing was junior guard Kristi Faulkner. At 5'7"" she was sorely undersized compared to the height of Wisconsin, but with her quickness and long range was able to put up a career high 29 points. Another problem that the Badgers had was rebounding. With a season low of 24, they pulled down nine less than the Hawkeyes who had 33.
""[The Hawkeyes] did play great defense, you can't take anything away from them. They're physical, you get elbows in the face, the chest. It wasn't that they picked up their defense, it was on our part, we lost confidence in our shooting--we weren't being an offensive team,"" Rich said. ""It just got to us and you know, a charge here, a turnover there, and it ended up coming down on us.\
