The No. 25 Wisconsin women's basketball team (1-1 overall) lost its first game of the season to Marquette 67-53 Saturday afternoon at the Bradley Center in Milwaukee. The game was played out in front of 4,327 fans, a record crowd for the Marquette women's basketball program.
The Golden Eagles played at a frantic pace, forcing Wisconsin into 18 turnovers in the first half. Wisconsin finished with 29 total turnovers on the game, allowing Marquette to score 25 points.
Marquette's junior guard Krystal Ellis put on a one-woman show early in the game, hitting three straight 3-pointers to pull ahead of the Badgers 21-31 with just a few minutes left in the first half. The Badgers went into the locker room trailing 37-27 at halftime.
This game was one I felt our team was prepared for in terms of defending: top the ball in transition and be a little more patient offensively,"" said Wisconsin head coach Lisa Stone.
""Unfortunately for us our patience turned into hurried shots, hurried passes and therefore the turnovers. Those turnovers led directly to opportunities for Marquette.""
Starting the second half, Stone decided to shake things up a bit. Stone had senior guard Jolene Anderson put defensive pressure on Ellis which helped to hold Marquette to just 1-for-9 shooting in the first four minutes of play. Wisconsin, however, did not shoot much better, going just one for six during that time.
Ellis finally hit her first bucket of the second half with 8:22 left in the game. She finished the game with 31 points and went an impressive 8-of-11 from the free throw line.
Wisconsin persevered and with 2:30 left was able to cut Marquette's lead down to seven points, 55-48, when Anderson hit a baseline jumper.
In the final minutes, Wisconsin was forced to foul Marquette, sending them to the free throw line where they hit 9-of-10 charity shots.
Anderson led the Badgers with 21 points and 10 rebounds, her second straight double-double of the season. Senior forward Danielle Ward also had 10 rebounds on the game and senior guard Janese Banks added 10 points for Wisconsin.
""We played a better second half in terms of some defensive adjustments and stopping the ball in transition,"" Stone said. ""But it's disappointing. I feel very good about our basketball game and our future ahead for this year. We will learn a lot from this game but its short term.""
Wisconsin will be hosting Wyoming Tuesday at 7 p.m. in its first regular season game at the Kohl Center this season. The Cowgirls defeated the Badgers in the WNIT Championship game to end their 2006-'07 campaign.
""We're excited to get back on the court,"" Stone said during her Monday press conference. ""Our game against Marquette was one that we have to quickly forget, learn from and move on.""
- uwbadgers.com contributed to this report.
