The Wisconsin women's basketball team hoped to pull out a road win in their final game before the Big Ten Tournament. Unfortunately, freshman guard Jolene Anderson's game-high 26-point performance proved insufficient to give Wisconsin the victory as Purdue won its regular season finale, 69-59.
Anderson now holds the UW freshman scoring record with 470 points, breaking Jesse Stomski's previous record of 459 points .
Wisconsin (5-11 Big Ten, 11-15 overall) only faced a two-point deficit with 5:40 remaining. However, from that point, seven Badger turnovers helped the Boilermakers (9-7 Big Ten, 16-11 overall) go on a 12-3 run to clinch the win.
Purdue's Senior Day, felt more like freshmen day, since freshman forward Lindsay Wisdom-Hylton led the Boilermakers with a career-high 22 points on 10-of-15 shooting and added a game-high six steals.
Wisconsin's starting forwards, senior Ebba Gebisa and junior Annie Nelson, combined for just two points and four rebounds. Senior guard Stephanie Rich was the only other Badger besides Anderson to score in double figures. Rich had 13 points, including three 3-pointers.
Anderson wasted no time making her presence known. Down 10-2, she scored all 12 points in a 12-1 run that gave the Badgers the lead. Going into halftime, she had 15 points on 6-of-9 shooting and 3-of-4 from downtown, but the Boilermakers led 31-24 at the break.
Wisconsin used another run to come back in the second half. The Badgers made 10 free throws as part of a 13-2 run that cut the deficit to 53-51.
Purdue stole the ball six times however and made 8-of-9 free throws down the stretch. For the game, the Boilermakers converted 19-of-24 from the line. Purdue finished with 14 steals and scored 22 points off of Wisconsin's 23 turnovers.
In addition to Wisdom-Hylton, two other Purdue players scored in double figures. Sophomore guard Katie Gearlds had 19 points on 7-of-14 shooting and was 3-of-5 from beyond the arc. Sophomore forward Erin Lawless, who dropped in 29 points in the previous meeting against Wisconsin, scored 12 points, including 6-of-8 from the charity stripe.
Purdue senior center Emily Heikes grabbed a game-high 10 rebounds. Freshman guard Janese Banks led the Badgers with seven boards. Wisconsin made seven 3-pointers, including 5-of-10 in the first half. Purdue shot 4-of-12 from beyond the arc. Banks and Rich each led the Badgers with three assists.
Wisconsin faces Indiana Thursday in the Big Ten Tournament in Indianapolis, Ind.
