After an abysmal first half, the UW women's basketball team could not fully recover and were defeated by South Dakota State by a final score of 68-65.
The Badgers (4-4) could not quite overcome a 21-point deficit with 14:35 left in the second half, despite a rejuvenating 19-0 run midway through the second half. A three-pointer by freshman Chris Spencer in the midst of the run provided UW with a huge spark off the bench and sophomore Danielle Ward made three consecutive lay-ups directly following that. Sophomore guard Janese Banks capped the run with two free throws to put the Badgers down 56-54 with 6:21 remaining.
Spencer's trey really got the crowd going, and the Badgers were able to play off of that energy to finish the run.
'I give a lot of credit to Chris,' Ward said. 'She came out there and she was determined, she was ready. (She) gave us confidence.'
With 56 seconds remaining, the Badgers pulled to within one after a Banks jumper. Following a missed shot from the block by Ward and a pair of free throws by South Dakota State freshman Jennifer Warkenthien with eight seconds remaining, Banks missed an off-balance three at the buzzer to secure the win for the Jackrabbits (5-2).
However, the real story of the game was turnovers. UW committed a season-high 26 turnovers and, as a result, attempted a season-low 56 field goals. The Badgers trailed at halftime 42-26, and looked totally out of sync in all facets of the game, unable to match the Jackrabbits' intensity and energy. Head coach Lisa Stone attributed the abundance of turnovers to a lack of execution on offense, especially in the first half.
'We were careless with the ball, had poor shot selection, poor cuts, just bad decisions in the first half,' Stone said.
South Dakota State looked fearless in the first half, using good ball movement and ferocious defense to jump out to a 16-point lead at halftime. They never lost the lead. Andrea Verdegan, a Glen Flora, Wis. native, led the Jackrabbits with 19 points, including 5-of-9 shooting from beyond the arc. Junior Megan Vogel chipped in with 15 points, 13 coming in the first half.
'I'm really pleased that we have a team that plays to the level of what they do to accomplish things, we just showed great energy,' South Dakota State head coach Aaron Johnston said. 'We showed a lot of poise for a pretty inexperienced team in the big picture of things to get this win on the road.'
The Badgers were lead by Banks, who notched her first-career double-double, scoring 15 points while grabbing 12 boards. Ward scored 12 points to go along with four blocks, and freshman Caitlin Gibson chipped in with 11 points. Sophomore Jolene Anderson added 1.
'Our record is now 0-0,' Stone said. 'We have to start over. A brand new season starts tomorrow.'
