The UW women's basketball team (4-4 Big Ten, 15-6 overall) battled their way back Thursday night, picking up its first win of the season after trailing at halftime. Michigan (1-7, 8-13) was tripped up early in the second half and was unable to fight its way back, losing 73-60 at the Kohl Center.
Junior guard Janese Banks led the Badgers with 20 points, followed closely by classmate Jolene Anderson tallying 19. Freshman point guard Rae Lin D'Alie also scored in double-figures with 11 points and both Banks and D'Alie dropped five assists apiece.
Two weeks ago, Wisconsin traveled to Michigan and came up with a win by fighting its way back in the final minute of play to win by three. The Badgers were strong with the ball and hit clutch shots in the second half that evening and they played the same way Thursday. The only difference was the Wolverines were the team trailing entering the final minutes of play this time.
To pull ahead of the Wolverine's 32-28 halftime lead, Wisconsin scored several quick buckets to jump ahead of Michigan with two minutes to play in the half. Wisconsin led by as many as nine points within the next 10 minutes, and Michigan attempted to fluster the Wisconsin offense by supplying full court pressure late in the second half, but Michigan's efforts were not enough to cause Wisconsin to stumble. The Badgers also shot well from the free-throw line down the stretch, and Banks finished with shooting an impressive 10-of-12 from the charity line.
Rebounding in the second half gave Wisconsin advantages on both ends of the court, improving the Badgers' first half rebound stats of 15 and ending with a team total of 46. Sophomore Caitlin Gibson finished with a team high nine rebounds while teammate Banks added seven. Junior Danielle Ward also pulled in six boards on the game, along with D'Alie and Anderson.
""The attention to our rebounding and our defense in the second half allowed us to distance ourselves from a good and improving Michigan team,"" Wisconsin head coach Lisa Stone said at the post-game press conference.
MU's Krista Phillips, who was a definite strength in the first half with nine points, did not convert a single second half field goal. Wisconsin hustled and was able to shut down this very important part of the Michigan offense, since UM was not able to find another easy window for scoring opportunities outside the lane.
""I think the way Caitlin Gibson came out of the gates in the second half really caused Phillips to be a non-factor,"" Stone said.
Janelle Cooper led Michigan with 19 points and eight rebounds, as the team dropped its seventh Big Ten game. Carly Benson and Phillips each scored in double digits for the Wolverines, finishing with 13 and 10 points.
Wisconsin will host Minnesota on Sunday afternoon at the Kohl Center. The ‘Raise the Roof' event will also take place at the game, as Coach Stone will donate 25 cents to a non-profit cancer foundation for every fan in attendance.
