A 3-point prayer at the buzzer by sophomore guard Janese Banks fell short, and with it fell the Badger women's hopes of ending the regular season with a win as Wisconsin (5-11 Big Ten, 11-17 overall) lost to Purdue (13-3, 22-5) at the Kohl Center, 66-63. It was a heartbreaking way for the seniors to bow out in front of the home crowd, as Sunday was the final home game of their collegiate careers'and they came one shot away from forcing the second best team into the conference into and overtime battle.
Senior forwards Jordan Wilson, Kjersten Bakke, Annie Nelson and senior guard Ashley Josephson all got to start the game and soundly held the high-powered Boilermaker offense at bay most of the night. Banks and sophomore guard Jolene Anderson combined for 43 points in the game, while four of Purdue's starters put up double-digit point totals. Freshman forward Caitlin Gibson showed more evidence that she is evolving into an impact player down low with her seven point performance in the game, including a tough layup under the basket to take the Badgers into halftime with the lead, 31-30.
The whole contest was evenly matched, as neither team could pull more than six points into the lead at any time. However, in the last minute of the game, Purdue's senior guard Sharika Webb made a baseline layup and an ensuing free throw to put the Boilermakers ahead 66-61. Anderson tried to make a 3-point shot with 15 seconds remaining, but was denied as sophomore Lindsay Wisdom-Hylton came up to make a punishing block. Banks then went inside and converted on a layup to make the score 66-63.
Two missed free throws on the other end of the court by senior guard Carol Duncan left the Badgers with eight seconds to try for a game-saving 3-point shot. But as the buzzer sounded and the last shot by Banks sailed well short of the hoop, the Badgers had to accept the defeat.
'We just came up short,' head coach Lisa Stone said. 'I thought we had a good look at the end. To put it into overtime, I think the crowd would've gone nuts and it would've been a whole different game. But again, credit Purdue'they're a good team, they're very long, they're great defensively. We've got to pick up from here. We can't hang our heads.'
The Badgers have solidified a ninth seed in this week's Big Ten tournament and are now looking ahead to Thursday's contest against eighth-seeded Penn State, a team Wisconsin beat soundly just a week and a half ago.
'Our basketball team is playing very, very good right now. We're playing our best basketball at the right time,' Stone said. 'If anything, we'll be confident going into the tournament. We'll go down there and do what we set out to do, and that's to take one at a time, win, survive and move on.'
