A second half collapse led to heartbreak for the Wisconsin Badgers women’s basketball team as they fell 65-62 to the Marquette Golden Eagles in overtime.
Kyrah Daniels led the way for Wisconsin with 17 points, while Destiny Howell added 14. Gift Uchenna scored 11 points and led the team in rebounds with 10. Ronnie Porter scored five points and provided five assists in her first start of the season.
Wisconsin led most of the game. In the first quarter, Howell’s nine points led the Badgers to a strong 20-12 lead. Wisconsin, firmly in control, forced Marquette into seven turnovers
In the second quarter, the Badgers shooting troubles began, causing the team to go through a few scoring droughts. The longest drought saw two minutes of no scoring from either team. Daniels got Wisconsin out of their rut by hitting two three-pointers early in the second quarter to give them an 11-point lead. Going into halftime, Wisconsin led the Golden Eagles 33-26.
Wisconsin’s offensive inconsistency was on full display in the third quarter, as the Badgers scored only nine points all period. Marquette wasn't any better, as they also only scored nine points, but Wisconsin’s inability to pull away eventually bit them in a chaotic fourth quarter.
Marquette started clawing back early into the quarter, and both of the Badgers' leading scorers got into foul trouble, forcing Pingeton to rely on her bench for scoring. Costly turnovers near the end of the fourth quarter gave Marquette a chance to get the game down to one possession off the back of a 7-0 run. Marquette, with 18 seconds left to play in regulation, took a two-point lead off a free throw from Skylar Forbes.
With little time to tie the game, Pingeton drew up a play for the win. Daniels missed a 3 but was able to grab her own rebound and drive for a tough layup to tie the game and force overtime.
In overtime, Wisconsin kept it close. Daniels tied the game with 38 seconds left to play. But a 3-pointer from Forbes with nine seconds left forced the Badgers into a three-point deficit, which was enough to seal their fate.
Wisconsin’s rough loss was punctuated by 13 turnovers, a 34.8% field goal rate and shooting 22.2% from beyond the arc. Wisconsin will have to erase this game from its memory as they have a quick turnaround before their next game on Monday against UW-Milwaukee. They’ll return to the Kohl Center, with tipoff set for 6:30 p.m.
