There was a reason why Wisconsin head coach Lisa Stone worried about sophomore center sensation Jessica Davenport before Thursday night's match-up at the Kohl Center.
\We could not afford to just let her get position and back us down,"" Stone said.
How true her words proved to be when nobody could stop Davenport. She scored a career-high 36 points (a women's opposing player record at the Kohl Center) on 15-21 shooting in addition to nine rebounds and three blocks, as Davenport led No. 3 Ohio State (7-1 Big Ten, 20-2 overall) past Wisconsin (1-6, 7-10) 86-67.
""Jessica obviously was a handful for us,"" Stone said. Davenport and the rest of the Buckeyes dominated Wisconsin up and down the court, outscoring the Badgers 56-24 in the paint, 42-27 in rebounds and 18-2 in fast-break points.
Aiding Davenport's effort were teammates senior guard Caity Matter, who had 14 points, and junior guard Kim Wilburn who tallied seven steals.
Wisconsin certainly did not help itself, amassing 22 turnovers, which led to 26 Buckeye points. The main bright spot for the Badgers was the play of freshman guard Jolene Anderson, who scored 24 points with four 3-pointers in the losing effort. Senior guard Stephanie Rich added 12 points, but was held in check for the majority of the game.
Wisconsin fell behind early, as a 3-0 lead in the first three minutes turned into a 30-12 deficit with 7:30 left in the first half. Again, turnovers were key as the Badgers had more turnovers (12) than field goals made (11) in the first half.
Showing some fire coming out in the second half, Wisconsin went on a 7-0 run to cut the lead to 45-36. That was as close as it would get, however, as Ohio State responded with a 20-6 run, quelling any hopes of a Wisconsin comeback.
""There are some good things we can take from this,"" Stone said after the game. ""Ohio State, in my mind, is probably one of the best teams I've ever coached against in my career.""
Among the things taken away from the loss was Wisconsin's proficiency behind the arc, shooting 8-18 compared to OSU's 2-9. Another bright point came in the form of senior forward Ebba Gebisa and her energetic performance. Gebisa drew the largest ovation of the night when she blocked Davenport on successive possessions.
""I just took what the defense gave me and it worked out well,"" Davenport said. ""Getting the ball early to her early and often was key,"" added Matter, who also added five steals to the effort.
On an injury side note, junior guard Kjersten Bakke left the game in the first half after injuring her left knee on a fast break and will be re-evaluated on Friday.
Clearly this is a blow to the Badgers who have struggled of late, winning only one conference game. UW will try to regroup at home on Sunday against conference foe Michigan (1-7, 5-14). UW will also be celebrating the 30th anniversary of women's sports at Sunday's game.
