An intense battle kept spectators enthused Tuesday evening at the Kohl Center, as the UW women's basketball team (2-0) went on to defeat Western Michigan (0-2) 80-77 in the Badger's regular season home opener.
The Badgers grabbed the lead immediately and were able to pull ahead by 11 points early in the first half. The Broncos, however, trimmed that deficit to five as the Badgers went into the locker rooms with a 40-35 halftime lead.
Junior guard Jolene Anderson came into the second half on fire, scoring 15 points off three 3-pointers and another six points from inside the arc in the opening 10 minutes. Leading Wisconsin in scoring with 26 points, Anderson also led the team with nine rebounds and six assists.
""Here we are playing against the caliber of Jolene Anderson ... now we've had the opportunity to see that first hand and she [Anderson] did not disappoint,"" Western Michigan head coach Ron Stewart said.
Junior forward Janese Banks scored 12 points and sophomore Caitlin Gibson added 15 points to the Badger score. Both Banks and Gibson also hit clutch free throws within the last 20 seconds of the game to help the Badgers keep their lead and pull away with the victory.
With five seconds left in the game, Western Michigan had an opportunity to tie the score off a 3-point attempt by Nicole Watkins that bounced off the rim and landed in the hands of teammate Carrie Moore, who had a poor kick-out pass for one final shot at the buzzer, which the Broncos did not get off in time.
Moore, a senior for the Broncos, led all scorers with 29 points, and teammate Tiera DeLaHoussaye, a sophomore guard, had an impressive game with 23 points and six assists for Western Michigan.
""This was a very tight game, very up-tempo, playing a veteran team that is a good team and well coached,"" UW head coach Lisa Stone said. ""But we made really good decisions. Overall this was a great win...we are excited to be 2-0.""
Wisconsin will be hosting Central Connecticut State this Friday evening at the Kohl Center in search of yet another win.
