Sophomore guard Teah Gant sunk two clutch free throws with just seconds left to cap off a miraculous comeback Thursday night at Chrisler Arena in Ann Arbor, Mich., defeating Michigan 69-67.
The stars were lined up our way tonight,"" Wisconsin head coach Lisa Stone said.
Wisconsin (9-8 Big Ten, 16-10 overall) came back from a 20-point deficit in the second half to seal its fifth-straight win of the season.
Wisconsin started the game ice cold, mustering just 18 points on 21 percent shooting in the first half. The Wolverines completely stifled the Badger offense, packing in the zone down low.
Michigan shot nearly 60 percent from the field in the first session, including 5-for-10 from behind the arc to go up 36-18 at the break.
Jessica Minnfield had 13 points in the first half on 5-for-6 shooting, including three 3-pointers. Minnfield led the Wolverines with 15 points on the night.
""At halftime I talked about embarrassment, I talked about lack of energy, lack of character, who wants it more,"" Stone said. ""Michigan obviously wanted it more.""
Whatever Stone told her squad in the locker room worked, as Wisconsin came out a completely different team.
It was raining threes for the Badgers in the second half, as they finally found their touch. Wisconsin hit three-straight to cut the Wolverines' lead to 11 with 12 minutes remaining.
Michigan could not get a hand up fast enough as three more 3-pointers by sophomore guard Rae Lin D'Alie, freshman guard Alyssa Karel and senior guard Jolene Anderson brought the Badgers to within four points with just over eight minutes to go. The Badger bench went wild as Karel nailed another 3-pointer with 5:49 to go, giving the Badgers their first lead all night, 55-54.
Up by one point with under a minute to go, Banks and Dunham each made 1-of-2 from the line, putting the Badgers up 67-64.
It was almost déjà vu for the Badgers, as Michigan guard Carly Benson made a baseline 3-pointer to tie it up with under 10 seconds left. Instead of calling a timeout, Wisconsin hurried the ball up the floor where Gant was fouled with 3.3 seconds remaining.
Gant coldly made both free throws to put Wisconsin up for good, 69-67.
Wisconsin outscored Michigan (9-8, 16-11) 51-31 in the second half, marking the Badgers' largest comeback this season.
Anderson led the Badgers with 14 points, with Karel and senior forward Danielle Ward adding 11 points apiece.
With the win, the Badgers are currently in a sixth-place tie in the conference and are racing to the Big Ten Tournament in Indianapolis.
The Badgers will host Iowa (12-5, 19-9) in the Big Ten season finale Sunday at noon at the Kohl Center. Four seniors will also be honored as they say goodbye to their storied careers at Wisconsin.
