Tuesday afternoon, hours after the Wisconsin Badgers (3-10 Big Ten, 7-16 overall) knocked off the Purdue Boilermakers 64-57, Nicole Bauman seemed fatigued just thinking about the kind of effort it took for the team to record their first win since mid-January.
“Coming off of a seven-game losing streak, to have that win, it shows us what level we need to play at to win,” Bauman said.
Thursday night against the Michigan Wolverines, the Badgers came out with the same effort and energy they had against Purdue days earlier. But in the second half, the Badgers limped out of the locker room and struggled to reach the level needed to win, falling to the Wolverines, 82-65.
The 17-point loss does not do the Badgers justice, though. With just over four minutes remaining, trailing by five points, sixth-year senior center Michala Johnson’s jump shot rolled in and out and the Wolverines quickly capitalized on the miss, turning it into an easy deuce and a seven-point lead the Wolverines extended in the waning minutes.
Johnson and her frontcourt mate junior Avyanna Young carried the load for the Badgers on the offensive end of the floor, finishing with 15 and 16 points, respectively. Johnson hauled in 13 rebounds for her second consecutive double-double and Young pulled down an equally respectable eight boards.
The Badgers, though, struggled on the offensive end of the floor all night long. Michigan held Wisconsin to only 46 percent shooting from the field and an even more surprising 30 percent shooting from beyond the arc.
Bauman, one of the best shooters in the entire country, had one of her worst games of the season, finishing a dreadful 1-of-8 from three and 3-of-15 overall.
She did finish the game with 10 points, but for a player of her importance, the senior guard’s scoring total is underwhelming to say the least.
On the surface, the Badgers got solid contributions from their entire starting as senior guard Tessa Cichy was the only UW starter to not score double figures. Cichy, though, finished with nine points in 36 gritty minutes of play.
The Badgers got off to a fast start, handling the Wolverine’s 1-3-1 press fairly well. But after struggling to close the first quarter, the Badgers led by only one point after 10 minutes of play. Fouls hurt the Badgers in the second period, but they weathered the Wolverines’ storm and led by one at the break.
Early in the season, head coach Bobbie Kelsey realized that more often than not, if the Badgers played a good first quarter, they frequently played a bad third quarter.
And while that trend hadn’t reared its head of late, it did tonight in the Badgers’ most recent defeat.
Wisconsin’s defense didn’t fare well, surrendering at least 75 points for the sixth time in their last seven games.
Sophomore guard Katelynn Flaherty had 23 points for the Wolverines, and freshman center Hallie Thomas added 18 points as well.
The Badgers hit the road again this Sunday to play the Indiana Hoosiers at 1 p.m. in Bloomington, Ind.
