Consistency on defense has been the theme of this year's Wisconsin women's basketball team.
And while that defensive consistency was lacking in the second half at the Kohl Center Sunday afternoon, the Badgers pushed their win streak to eight straight as they survived Northern Illinois 70-64.
First of all, I congratulate my team on the victory, although our staff and team are disappointed with our second half,"" Wisconsin head coach Lisa Stone said. ""We played poorly in that second half, particularly defensively. Those last 20 minutes we wanted to be our best and to put them away, but we weren't able to.""
Wisconsin (8-1) led by 20 points with 13:03 left in the game before Northern Illinois (3-5) amped its defensive pressure and ended the game on a 28-14 run.
""The second 20 minutes was not acceptable and you can ask anybody in the locker room about that,"" Stone said.
""I credit Northern Illinois - they put some focal pressure on us, we coughed it up a few times too many and allowed them to get in the paint,"" Stone said. ""But overall we get the win.""
Sophomore guard Alyssa Karel put on an offensive show, leading the Badgers with a career-high 25 points on 11-for-14 shooting from the floor. Her 78.6 shooting percentage against the Huskies ranks sixth all-time in UW history.
""Whenever anybody's going off like that, you definitely want to find those players,"" junior guard Rae Lin D'Alie said. ""Alyssa was making play after play and I was definitely looking for her out there.""
Defensively, the Huskies started out in a 2-3 zone but Wisconsin was able to spread the floor and find the open shooters - something Karel in particular took full advantage of.
""We talked about not giving [Karel] open looks,"" NIU head coach Carol Owens said. ""Obviously with zone you're going to give up some threes, and she happened to be the person that we gave up threes on. She was a hard guard for us.""
Wisconsin pounded the ball inside early, scoring 22 first half points in the paint. The Badgers also shot a blistering 73.9 percent from the floor as they jumped out to a 41-24 lead at the break.
Karel stayed hot in the second half, sinking a pair of threes before the first media timeout.
Midway through the second half, Owens switched to a box-and-one defensive set, but Karel was still able to find her offense.
""She's a special player,"" Owens said. ""She's savvy, she knows how to get her shots and I think that's what makes her a really good player.""
The Wisconsin team also broke a Kohl Center record, shooting 61.9 percent from the field for the game on 26-for-42 shooting.
""Confidence is contagious; I'm a big believer in that,"" Stone said. ""When you're feeling it, obviously it's something you want to stay with.""
Besides Karel, Wisconsin had eight other players find the scoring column for the second straight game. D'Alie and junior forward Mariah Dunham added 11 points apiece.
NIU was led by sophomore guard Marke Freeman with 15 points and five assists. Senior forward Aileen Russouw and junior guard Kylie York each added 11 points.
Senior guard Sharà - Welton, who transferred from Wisconsin to NIU after the 2005-06 season, totaled 10 points and four rebounds in her first return trip to the Kohl Center.
Wisconsin will look for its ninth straight victory, as it travels to UW-Green Bay Wednesday for a matchup against the Phoenix. Yet Coach Stone knows there is little room for error against their intrastate rival that has already sold out its home facility.
""We've got a lot to work on,"" Stone said. ""The teaching points have started already and we're looking forward to growing and being better on Wednesday.""
