The Wisconsin women's basketball team shook off a sluggish start and survived a furious second-half Kentucky run to beat the Wildcats in the second round of the Women's National Innovational Tournament at the Kohl Center Sunday, 49-45.
""We had a little rust in the first half, and it carried over,"" Wisconsin head coach Lisa Stone said. ""It wasn't a thing of beauty offensively, but defensively we were outstanding.
""Our defense is going to keep us in every game. The way we played in the Big Ten Tournament defensively is what I saw today. The offensive part will come, but our post play was outstanding.""
Despite shooting just 31 percent from the field for the game, Wisconsin (19-14) got a big showing from sophomore forward Tara Steinbauer, who scored 13 of her career-high 18 points in the second half.
Wisconsin had to finish much of the game without sophomore forward Lin Zastrow, who went down with an ankle injury in the first half. Yet fellow Jefferson, Wis., native and senior forward Caitlin Gibson stepped up off the bench, tallying a pair of season highs with eight points and five rebounds.
""When Lin went down I knew it wasn't a joke,"" Gibson said. ""I was ready to go in and did the best I could, and we got the win.""
Stone said Zastrow's status for the third round of the WNIT will be day-to-day.
Both teams started slowly, wearing off the 15-day spring break hangover. The Wildcats shot 21 percent from the floor in the first half, including 0-for-6 from 3-point range. Wisconsin shared the same shooting woes, as it managed a meager 27 percent (8-for-29) in the first half.
Kentucky (16-16) proved why it is one of the best rebounding teams in the Southeastern Conference, as it had more rebounds than points in the first half. The Wildcats out-rebounded Wisconsin 46-39, yet Stone was pleased with her team's performance on the boards.
""Rebounding was going to be a key against an athletic, solid rebounding team, and for the most part I think we did a great job of that,"" Stone said.
Kentucky picked up its pace after the break and opened the second half with a three by guard Carly Ormerod and a three-point play by center Eleia Roddy to give the Wildcats their first lead of the game, 22-19.
Kentucky extended its lead to 30-23 on another Ormerod three-point play, before the Badgers answered with a 11-2 run after a scoreless six-minute span. Wisconsin retook the lead on a pair of Steinbauer baby hooks to put the Badgers up 34-32 with just over seven minutes remaining.
""It was just a matter of turning around our mentality,"" Steinbauer said about the scoring drought. ""Coach [Stone] said our defense has always been our identity and that was something that we had to get back into. We came down and had a great defensive possession, and things started to really turn around for us.""
Sophomore guard Alyssa Karel tallied eight points on just 3-for-18 shooting, but converted a tough reverse layup to put the Badgers up 46-40 with 1:33 remaining.
Wisconsin once again struggled from the free-throw line, shooting 9-for-16 to Kentucky's 15-for-18. Yet Steinbauer coolly sunk the most important pair with :09 remaining to seal the four-point victory.
The Badgers improved to 2-0 all-time against Kentucky. Ironically, Wisconsin beat Kentucky, 67-61, exactly two years ago in Madison and also in the second round of the WNIT.
Wisconsin will next host St. Bonaventure Thursday at 7 p.m. at the Kohl Center. The Bonnies defeated West Virginia 68-63 Saturday in St. Bonaventure, N.Y.
