Competing in the Big Ten/Big 12 Challenge in Stillwater, Okla., the Wisconsin women's basketball team simply dug their own holes. The Badgers turned the ball over a costly 25 times, shot just 34 percent from the floor, and no player found her way to double-digit scoring.
The result was a 50-42 loss on the road at Oklahoma State, Wisconsins' seventh straight loss, dropping the team to 2-7 on the year.
Sophomore guard Taylor Wurtz led the Badgers with eight points and a career-high 15 rebounds. Senior forward Lin Zastrow matched Wurtz's scoring mark and contributed eight rebounds of her own.
Despite the Badgers' sloppy play, the Cowgirls struggled throughout the game as well, shooting just 22 percent the entire game. The Badgers led early, 11-5, but Oklahoma State fought back and capitalized on Wisconsin turnovers to take a slight 31-29 edge into halftime.
The Badgers continued to hold their own against the Cowgirls in the second half, maintaining a close game through much of the period. With 8:30 left in the game, and the Badgers up 40-38, however, the offense simply fell silent. Wisconsin failed to score a single point in the next eight minutes of the contest, as Oklahoma State slowly built their lead.
The Badgers' woes on both ends of the foul line continued Sunday against Oklahoma State. Wisconsin managed to find their way to the charity stripe just four times in 40 minutes of play, converting only two.
Meanwhile, Wisconsin, once again, found themselves in debilitating foul trouble. Led by Zastrow and senior guard Alyssa Karel, who committed four fouls apiece, the team as a whole was called for 20 total violations. Oklahoma State took 27 shots from the line, converting 20.
""I'm not sure quite how to explain it,"" head coach Lisa Stone said. ""We had turnovers from every player on the floor. [Junior guard] Jade Davis played for 27 minutes without a turnover, but that's the only positive note in the turnover category.""
Karel, usually a spark for the team, managed just five points on the night, while fellow senior, forward Tara Steinbauer contributed only six.
The Cowgirls were led by freshman guard Tiffany Bias who not only scored a game-high 14 points, while going 9-10 from the free throw line, but also recorded five steals on the evening.
""We are searching but each person has to take some accountability, myself included,"" Stone said. ""We've got to keep it together and keep positive and keep our chins up.""
The Badgers travel Thursday to Des Moines, Iowa to take on Drake, where Stone coached for three seasons, in search of a chance end to the losing skid at seven.
—UWBadgers.com contributed to this report.
