It was a low-scoring game and in the end it came down to a single point as the UW women's basketball team lost to Indiana 49-48 Sunday, falling to 5-8 in the Big Ten (7-17 overall) and giving the Hoosiers (3-7, 12-11) their first road victory.
Poor shooting early on and a strong Indiana defense plagued the Badgers as the Hoosiers opened up to a 15-1 lead in the first half.
It was more than six minutes in before UW's junior center Lello Gebisa netted a quick bucket, ending Wisconsin's early scoring drought.
Despite the large deficit, the Badgers battled back by using defense and the height advantage of Gebisa (6'7\) and junior center Emily Ashbaugh (6'5"") to dig the team out of its hole. After a 30-second violation by the Hoosiers and a field goal by sophomore guard Stephanie Rich, Wisconsin got to within four points.
UW fell behind again, 22-13, but the height of the Badgers continued to rattle Indiana after an inbound pass was stolen by Gebisa, and the women were again gaining upon the Hoosiers, climbing to within five at the half.
""I think they've showed it all year,"" Head Coach Jane Albright said in regards to the team's demeanor. ""We certainly are resilient. I never thought we had a sense of urgency when we started the game. We've got four games left and I would think we'd come out with a sense of urgency.""
Turnovers continue to hurt the Wisconsin women, who had 12 at the half and 21 at the end of the game, but Indiana also had a large amount of turnovers: 14. Wisconsin made up for its high turnover count by using its height to have eight blocks in the game and nine second- chance points.
""They're very big,"" Indiana senior guard Kristin Bodine said, ""I think that was evident when we were trying to drive into the lane and shoot. They have long arms, and get their hands on a lot of balls, so you have to be sharp and crisp.""
A surge of energy by Gebisa helped keep the Badgers on the heels of the Hoosiers as both teams battled back and forth down the court.
In the final minute, with the score 49-48 in favor of Indiana, Wisconsin was unable to convert despite several good looks. In a final play with .6 seconds left, UW had one last chance with a possible lob shot, but the Indiana defense did not allow it and a pass to Gebisa forced the team's game-leading scorer to dribble before attempting a shot and time ran out.
""All you can do with .6 is catch and shoot,"" Albright said.
""We knew that. It's just where Lello ended up getting the ball she couldn't catch and shoot because you can't catch it with your feet on the ground and do that.""
Indiana's coach Kathi Bennett, daughter of former Wisconsin men's coach Dick Bennett, said the team was prepared for a quick shot and made adjustments to the defense.
""I thought they would lob it in,"" she said. ""I thought they'd try to set up for Lello or whoever had the size advantage.""
While Wisconsin was able to contain Indiana's leading scorer, sophomore guard Jenny DeMuth, the team was into the second half before they found an answer to freshman guard Cyndi Valentin who had 23 points in the game.
The Badgers next game is Feb. 23 against Iowa at home and they are looking to get their Big Ten record to .500 with the remaining three games.
""With this group of girls we're never going to give up,"" sophomore guard Shawna Nicols said. ""We're going to keep fighting and it came down to the first 10 minutes. We did it to ourselves.\
