The Badgers (1-2) led against in-state rival Marquette (2-0) 47-43 with just 4:25 left in the contest, but were outscored 11-5 for the remainder of the game and fell 54-52 at the Al McGuire Center in Milwaukee.
Sophomore guard Morgan Paige put Wisconsin up 49-46 with 2:37 left to play, but a pair of layup and two free throws put the Golden Eagles up three with 46 seconds remaining.
The Badgers then turned the ball over on the next possession but got it back and missed a 3-pointer with just five seconds left. Junior forward Sarina Simmons nailed two more free throws and the game concluded with Wisconsin senior guard Jade Davis hitting a 3-pointer at the buzzer.
"In the end, we probably didn't box out the way we were supposed to, didn't hit a shot or two, missed a layup, missed a free throw," head coach Bobbie Kelsey said. "It all adds up in the end. That's a good team and we learned a lot but we couldn't win the game."
Senior forward Anya Covington turned in the most complete game for the Badgers Tuesday night. The 6-foot-2 senior notched her first double-double of the year, finishing with 11 points and 11 rebounds. She also showed frustration with the late collapse.
"It's just the little things like coach said," Covington said. "There were a few plays we missed, a few shots we shouldn't have took, a few missed rebounds and they add up. It's a learning lesson. We don't want to have too many learning lessons like that."
Wisconsin struggled to defend Marquette's Simmons, a 6-foot-1 forward out of Rufus King High School in Milwaukee. The junior had a career-high 23 points and pulled down six rebounds in the process.
"She's a great player," Kelsey said. "She's one they depend on and they go to. She can deliver for her team."
The Badgers also started out slower than they would've liked-they found themselves down by nine points on two separate occasions in the first half-but slowly chipped away and pulled even at halftime. They then scored six straight points after Marquette scored to open the half, but poor shooting proved to haunt Wisconsin the rest of the way. As a team, the Badgers only converted on 31.4 percent (16-of-51) of their attempts, including only 6-of-21 from 3-point range.
Once again, turnovers hindered the Badgers as well. Just one game after committing 31 turnovers against Oral Roberts Sunday, Wisconsin cut its total to 19, but still has room for improvement with ball-handling.
"We've been struggling with settling into our offense," Paige said.
Despite the loss and falling to 1-2 on the season, Kelsey still saw improvement in some areas and acknowledged that the team still took a step forward.
"We battled all the way to the end and just came up a little short," Kelsey added.
Wisconsin returns home to play Washington State on Friday at the Kohl Center. Tipoff is scheduled for 7 p.m.
Uwbadgers.com contributed to this report.
