The Wisconsin women's basketball team stunned No. 25 Iowa 88-78 Sunday at Carver-Hawkeye Arena. The Badgers (3-7 Big Ten, 9-11 overall) were carried by junior guard Ashley Josephson's career-high 29 points. Iowa (4-6 Big Ten, 15-6 overall) carried a 9-1 record at home into the game.
Josephson made 11 of 16 shots and five of six 3-point attempts. As a team, UW shot 33 of 64 and converted eight of 12 from beyond the arc for a season-high 66.7 shooting percentage.
Iowa led 23-8 after eight minutes of play. The Badgers, on one of four first-half 3-pointers by Josephson, took their first lead of the game with 3:42 left in the first half. Behind Josephson's 16 first-half points, Wisconsin went into the locker room leading 43-37.
Iowa climbed back into the game early in the second half. The Hawkeyes took a 67-65 lead with 9:27 remaining. Following a 69-69 tie, the Badgers used a 13-4 run to take an 82-73 lead with 2:03 left.
In the last meeting between the teams, Iowa erased an eight-point Wisconsin lead late in the second half and went on to win in overtime at the Kohl Center. The Badgers would not allow it to happen again. Leading 82-76 with 1:42 remaining, senior forward Ebba Gebisa scored back-to-back lay-ups. Wisconsin also converted four consecutive free throws to close out the win.
Freshman guard Jolene Anderson scored 17 points and made all four of her free-throw attempts. Senior guard Stephanie Rich, playing in her final game in her home state, added nine points, a team-high eight rebounds and a game-high eight assists. The Badgers had 18 assists and 11 steals for the game. After sitting out with an injury for two games, UW junior forward Kjersten Bakke contributed a season-high nine points while making all of her field goal and free-throw attempts (three of each).
Junior guard Crystal Smith led the Hawkeyes with 20 points. Iowa freshman forward Krista VandeVenter scored the first eight points of the game for the Hawkeyes and added a game-high nine rebounds. Iowa turned the ball over 22 times and committed 24 fouls. Wisconsin had 19 turnovers and 21 fouls. Iowa converted 19 of 26 free throws and Wisconsin made 14 of 21.
Wisconsin improved to 2-7 on the road. The Badgers return home for their next two games, hosting Illinois Thursday and Michigan State Sunday.
