The banged-up UW women's basketball team hung tough against a very good Iowa squad but came up short, losing by 68-59 Thursday night at the Kohl Center. Free-throw shooting proved to be the difference in the losing effort, as the Hawkeyes converted on 22 of their 28 attempts, with the Badgers making only 4 of 14 tries.
Wisconsin's 15-14 lead with 11:53 to go in the first half would be their last lead of the game. After an 8-0 spurt put the Hawkeyes (12-6 overall, 5-2 Big Ten) up by seven with 8:49 remaining in the half, the Badgers (6-12 Big Ten, 1-6) were never able to get closer than four points.
Wisconsin was able to stay in the game on good shooting from the field and a solid defensive effort, but in the end, poor free-throw shooting coupled with 19 turnovers proved to be too much to come back from. Iowa scored 22 points off turnovers.
'We shot the ball better, which is improvement for us, but Iowa [shot] the ball well from the outside,' head coach Lisa Stone said.
'I don't know if we were tired,' sophomore guard Jolene Anderson said, referring to the poor shooting towards the game's conclusion. 'I think we were more mentally tired than anything.'
The Badgers were unable to stop Hawkeye freshman forward Megan Skouby, who had her way against the Badgers' interior, finishing the game with 23 points and six boards. Hawkeyes leading scorer Crystal Smith chipped in 15 points and tied a career high with six steals.
Anderson led the way for the Badgers, pouring in 20 points to go along with three steals. Senior guard Ashley Josephson added 10. The Badgers were able to play solidly in spite of the injuries of two starters, sophomore point guard Janese Banks and senior forward Annie Nelson. Banks was out with an injured foot, while Nelson, who was able to go for only four minutes, is suffering from an injured right shoulder.
'It's disappointing, but hopefully we can find some ways to get back on the right track,' Stone said.
