Avenging a 30-point loss to Illinois earlier this season,the Wisconsin women's basketball team (9-15, 3-9 Big Ten) beat the fighting Illini on the road 66-61 Thursday.
Sophomore forward Danielle Ward led Wisconsin with 19 points as the Badgers dominated the glass, outscoring Illinois 36-12 in the paint.
Down the stretch, senior guard Ashley Josephson finished with 12 points and added four key free throws to conclude her 12 point performance.
Prior to being held scoreless in the first half, sophomore guard Jolene Anderson scored all 11 of her points in the second half, keeping her double-figure scoring streak in tact at 24 games. She also led the Badgers with eight rebounds.
'It was a complete game for us,' Wisconsin head coach Lisa Stone said. 'We made our free throws down the stretch and we played great defense. We held a team that just drilled their three's at our place earlier this year. We got the things done. We didn't panic. It feels good and hopefully we can break open.'
UW shot 48.1 percent from the field, its second-highest mark on the season. Illinois was held to 36.8 percent in the game after concluding the first half at just 25 percent from the field. The rebounding contest was also dominated by the Badgers, who won the battle on the boards, outrebounding Illinois 37-35.
UW did not trail the entire game, but Illinois hit three 3-pointers, but the Illini offense in the final minutes cut the game to as close as four twice in those in the waning minutes of the second half.
On the night, the Badgers went hit six of eight shots from the free throw line, with four from Josephson to notch the victory.
'(Free throws) is something we have been struggling with,' Josephson said. 'We shoot millions of them in practice but tonight we stepped up to the line with confidence. I knocked them down.'
The Badgers jumped out to a 17-4 lead to open the game, holding Illinois to just 13.3 percent shooting from the field midway through the first half. An eight-minute scoring drought by Illinois was snapped at 6:42, cutting a 21-8 Wisconsin lead to six points, 26-20, with 1:02 left to play in the half.
UW hosts Michigan State Sunday at 2:15 p.m. at the Kohl Center.
