Days after their worst first quarter of the season against Marquette, the Wisconsin Badgers (3-5) looked poised and comfortable in the opening period of their first home game in nearly a month.
But as the game progressed, the Badgers’ poise and comfort quickly became fatigue and frustration and they dropped yet another game, this time to the Florida Gators (8-1), 91-75.
For the first 10 minutes of the game, the Badgers seemed prepared for everything the Gators threw at them.
“We came out focused. We knew from the Marquette game, we weren’t pleased with our performance from the beginning of the game,” UW head coach Bobbie Kelsey said. “But people were focused and ready to go.”
The only constant for the Florida’s defensive game plan was their press. In the first quarter alone, they played man-to-man, two-three zone and even three-two zone.
But as the game prolonged, it was the Wisconsin defense, not the Gators’, that struggled.
“Our defense kinda failed us tonight,” Kelsey said. “We had gaps open and people were kinda just walking to the basket. We can’t have that.”
The frenetic Florida pace coupled with its seemingly never-ending bench allowed the Gators to cycle through players throughout the entirety of the game.
“You stop one kid. Somebody else gets going. And then you shut her down and somebody else gets going. And then they shuttle one or two more in, we just don’t have that depth,” Kelsey said.
One of the players that shuffled in and out of the game for the Gators was junior point guard Simone Westbrook. Westbrook tied her career-high with 18 points in only 20 minutes of action off the bench.
“It’s just hard for account for what she does. We say she has ninja hands. And so she gets steals and tips. And just really makes ball handlers uncomfortable,” Florida head coach Amanda Butler said. “And then some of the things she does on the offensive end, it’s just hard to stop her.”
Westbrook’s “ninja hands” frustrated both senior guard Nicole Bauman and senior guard Dakota Whyte all game long. Whyte had only one turnover in her return to the starting lineup, but admitted that the constant pressure from the Gators’ guards took a toll on her.
“I just think that we have to do a better job of being confidence in our dribble and staying poised at all times,” Whyte said.
Nicole Bauman, on the other hand, had seven turnovers. And while she led the Badgers with 19 points, even eclipsing the 900-point plateau in her UW career, she frequently struggled getting the ball across half court.
The Gators’ press alone caused nine turnovers in the Badgers’ backcourt.
Senior guard Tessa Cichy also struggled handling Florida’s pressure as she tallied six turnovers in her 33 minutes of play. With six seconds to go in the first half, Cichy threw an errant inbounds pass leading to an easy Gators basket to cut Wisconsin’s halftime lead to one.
Fast break points were a crucial reason for Florida’s success in the second half when they simply out ran the Badgers.
“They got a couple of fast break points too that they shouldn’t have gotten. We didn’t sprint back. We have to sprint both ways,” coach Kelsey said. “Offense you wanna get a layup, defense you wanna keep them from getting a layup.”
The Badgers will get a chance to correct those mistakes Sunday when they face Green Bay. Kelsey concluded that even with a disappointing defeat tonight, her team has a lot of confidence going into the weekend.
“I know that next game, we’re gonna come out and really pound on Green Bay 'cause they’re not as big and they’re not as fast," Kelsey said. “Taking nothing away from them, 'cause they have their own strengths, but they don’t look like Florida.”
