It was a bittersweet Senior Night at the Kohl Center Sunday night as the UW women's basketball team (4-12 Big Ten, 10-16 overall) fell to Ohio State (11-5, 19-8), 72-56. Following a pre-game ceremony honoring the three seniors who were playing their final home games in a Badger uniform, each left the court having made a dent in the stat column, but could not tally a win in the team's regular season finale.
Senior forward Lello Gebisa finished with 12 points and eight rebounds and fellow senior center Emily Ashbaugh scored 10 points and grabbedfive boards. Senior guard Abby Simmons, after starting the game, did no re-enter until late when she logged an assist in the final minute.
TheBuckeyes jumped out to a 15-0 lead before the first commercial timeout, forcing six turnovers in that span, and never looked back. The Badgers hung around at the half trailing 38-22, but despite several runs by UW after halftime, the margin was the same by the end.
\The Wisconsin Badgers faced, in my mind, one of the best teams in the Big Ten tonight,"" UW Head Coach Lisa Stone said. ""Ohio State has extreme balance. They are executing very well right now.""
Turnovers were the story as OSU capitalized on UW's 18 by scoring 26 points. UW countered with only two points off OSU turnovers. The Buckeyes collected 15 steals, the most UW had given up all season, behind the quick hands of sophomore guard Kim Wilburn who finished with five on the night.
Wilburn distributed the ball beautifully dishing out eight assists to go with eight points. Freshman Brandie Hoskins, Wilburn's backcourt mate, led Ohio State in scoring with 15 in just 28 minutes.
""Hoskins is a handful off the drive. She's got great hesitation and big on the glass and just does the little things. Wilburn might have had a piece of the first 10 possession for us, she just got a piece of the ball and generated their offense,"" Stone said.
Sophomore guard Ashley Josephson led the Badgers in scoring with 15 points on 5-14 shooting from the floor and 5-12 from behind the arc. Josephson's contribution on the offensive end was not enough to carry Wisconsin to victory as they allowed OSU to nearly double their total points in the paint, outscoring UW down low 40-22.
The Badgers now turn their attention to their first-round match-up in the Big Ten tournament with Indiana.
