Wisconsin sophomore forward Tara Steinbauer recorded her first career double-double as the UW women's basketball team beat Penn State 58-52 at the Kohl Center Thursday, snapping a five-game losing streak.
I was walking down the hallway with Rae [D'Alie] and she said 'I'm so sick of losing,'"" Stone said. ""That grit comes out when you get sick of it long enough.
""This hopefully is the game that jump-starts us, that breaks us through the ice and we get rolling into the [Big Ten] Tournament.""
Wisconsin had lost the first two games of its streak-on last second shots - including at Penn State when junior guard Tyra Grant hit a turnaround jumper at the end of overtime - before getting blown out on at Michigan and Purdue.
""You put all that work into being up in those games and to lose two buzzer-beaters '¦ its draining,"" D'Alie said. ""Then to go play two games like Michigan and Purdue and it's just like, OK, that's it. This is the time we're going to flip it.""
""I believe this is our breaking point,"" D'Alie added.
Steinbauer led UW (5-9 Big Ten, 15-10 overall) with 16 points and a career-high 10 rebounds, and fellow sophomores Alyssa Karel and Lin Zastrow added 15 and 11 points, respectively.
Despite going 4-for-8 from the free-throw line in the final three minutes of the game, the Badgers converted 15 offensive rebounds into 15 second-chance points - including a clutch put-back by Steinbauer with under a minute to go to put the Badgers up four.
""Her offensive rebound late in the game, inside the last minute, was huge for us,"" Stone said. ""[It] may have been the difference maker.""
Grant once again lit up the Badgers, leading PSU with 24 points.
""She's a fantastic player,"" Stone said of Grant. ""She's WNBA player. From the standpoint of her ability to score outside and inside, handle the basketball, shoot in traffic, we knew we'd have to do a good job on her.""
Grant picked up where she left off in Happy Valley, scoring 12 first-half points on 5-for-7 shooting from the floor with two threes.
But Wisconsin used a 12-2 run to take the lead at the half 26-19.
The Badgers caused a shot-clock violation on PSU to open the second half, then Zastrow went to work drawing an and-one to put the Badgers up 29-19.
UW opened up a 13-point lead on a layup by D'Alie, but the Nittany Lions came roaring back. Penn State cut the lead to five on a spin move by sophomore guard Julia Trogele from 12 feet and another Grant jumper. A pair of free throws by O'Rourke then tied the game at 33.
Pressure mounting, Steinbauer sunk a huge 3-pointer as the shot clock expired, and Karel curled off a double screen to put the Badgers back up 41-35 with 7:49 to go.
""I think I pulled my 3-point percentage up for the season from 9 percent to 20 percent,"" Steinbauer said with a wry smile. ""It came at the right time for us.""
Costly Nittany Lion turnovers led to layups for Wisconsin, as D'Alie put the Badgers ahead 48-38 with two of her eight points in the game. Penn State answered with a 12-2 run of its own to close to within two, 52-50.
Steinbauer hit a free throw to put UW up three. Grant missed a shot on the ensuing possession and Wisconsin junior Teah Gant grabbed the defensive rebound, leading to a run-out layup by Karel to seal the win for Wisconsin.
The Badgers also recorded a season-high 12 steals in the game.
Wisconsin will next host Indiana (8-6, 15-8) in a Monday night matchup at the Kohl Center. The Hoosiers lost an overtime heartbreaker to Michigan State Thursday night 71-65. The game will be broadcast live on the Big Ten Network.
