WBB: Badgers battle but run out of gas against No. 8 Maryland
Wisconsin gave the Terps everything they could handle on Saturday afternoon, but couldn't pull off the upset.
In front of a loud and engaged Kohl Center crowd, the Wisconsin Badgers women’s basketball team lost to the No. 8 Maryland Terrapins, 83-68, on Saturday afternoon. UW was running the Upset Special for three quarters but, according to math, there are four quarters in a basketball game.
While there are no moral victories in Big Ten hoops, Marisa Moseley and her team will have a number of good things to take away from this one. Here is my full recap and analysis of the game:
Final Score
Wisconsin Badgers (10-7 overall, 1-5 Big Ten): 68
No. 8 Maryland Terrapins (15-1 overall, 5-1 Big Ten): 83
Four Factors
eFG%: 50.0
Turnover%: 23.2
Off. Rebound%: 21.1
FTA/FGA: 39.6
Key Stats
FG%: 41.5 (22-of-53)
Opp. FG%: 54.2 (32-of-59)
3P%: 37.5 (9-of-24)
Opp. 3P%: 25.0 (2-of-8)
FT%: 71.4 (15-of-21)
Opp. FT%: 70.8 (17-of-24)
Points Per Possession: 0.986
Opponent Points Per Possession: 1.169
Rebounds: 21 (seven offensive)
Opponent Rebounds: 40 (14 offensive)
Turnovers: 16
Forced Turnovers: 16
Team Leaders
Lily Krahn: 16 points (5-of-10 FG, 5-of-10 3P), two rebounds, one assist, one block, two steals, -16
Serah Williams: 24 points (8-of-17 FG), five rebounds (two offensive), three assists, two blocks, one steal, -6
Carter McCray: seven points (2-of-4 FG), six rebounds (two offensive), two assists, -5 (fouled out)
Halle Douglass: one point (0-of-5 FG, 0-of-3 3P), three rebounds (one offensive), eight assists, two steals, -16
Maryland Team Leaders
Bri McDaniel: 21 points (9-of-15 FG, 1-of-2 3P), five rebounds (two offensive), four assists, one block, three steals, +14
Shyanne Sellers: 21 points (7-of-9 FG), two rebounds, one assist, one steal, +15
Kaylene Smikle: 18 points (7-of-16 FG, 1-of-5 3P), eight rebounds (two offensive), one steal, +13
Three-ish Thoughts
Was this the official coming out party for Lily Krahn? It sure looked like it! The junior long-range bomber from Prairie du Chien, Wis. checked into the game for the first time with 5:44 left in the opening quarter. Not even two minutes later she had already drained a pair of three-pointers.
She ended the game with five threes, a key charge taken at the end of the third quarter, and some tough defense on a potent Terps team. While she didn’t start, she did play five more minutes (25-20) than Tess Myers and as long as that minutes disparity stays the same I don’t really care if she is in the starting five or not.
My favorite Krahn play, however, came near the end of the third quarter. She got the ball beyond the arc on the wing and Maryland closed out HARD on her, as they should. She gave a pump fake, drove past the Terps’ defender, and then when the help came she dropped it off for Serah Williams who made a wide-open, short jumper. Really smart play from Krahn.Speaking of Myers, it looked like she was going to have another rough outing based on her first two possessions. With the shot clock winding down she received the ball on the wing and instead of shooting it right away, she faked and then couldn’t get a shot off at all as the shot clock ran out. Her next chance resulted in her at least getting a shot off, but it bricked.
However, Myers didn’t let that deter her and she ended up making 2-of-5 shots from deep, with both makes cutting Maryland’s lead to two points.Wisconsin’s transition defense is not good. In fact, I would go so far as to say it is bad. While Maryland only scored 10 points on the fast break (to UW’s three) it seemed like every time the Terps got out and ran they ended up with a good offensive possession.
The BTN commentators said, a couple of times, that they talked to Moseley before the game and she mentioned how she wanted her team to play with greater pace against Maryland. Per Her Hoops Stats, Wisconsin ranks No. 327 (67.2) nationally in pace this season while the Terps rank 42nd (75.3). When you are the underdog/less talented team it is my understanding that you shouldn’t try to beat the favorite/more talented team at their own game.
Now, Wisconsin ended the game with 69 (nice) possessions which IS above their season average and they held Maryland to 71 possessions, which is below their season average, but the Terps average way more points per possession and that’s why they ended up with more points!
Later in the game the BTN crew amended their statement about pace saying Wisconsin wanted to be faster in the “quarter court” which I guess (???) makes more sense. I still don’t like that strategy though because Wisconsin needed to limit Maryland’s scoring opportunities if they wanted to pull the upset.One of the reasons Wisconsin didn’t pull off the upset was Maryland’s dominance in the paint. Missing their leading rebounder (Saylor Poffenbarger) due to illness, all the Terps did was outrebound the Badgers 2:1.
Maryland hauled in 40 rebounds (to UW’s 21) with 14 (to UW’s seven) on the offensive end, which gave UMD a 50% offensive rebounding rate. The Terps also had 20 second chance points (to UW’s five) and scored a whopping 54 points in the paint compared to UW’s 20.
Another “fun” stat is that Maryland was 22-of-34 at the rim and Wisconsin was 5-of-16. Serah Williams (2-of-7) in particular did not have much luck by the basket as Maryland’s defense was swarming her every time she touched the ball in the post.
Even though they were missing Poffenbarger, Maryland has a roster full of long, tall players and they made Wisconsin’s life hell near the basket on both ends of the court.The Badgers entered the fourth quarter down only two points and quickly they tied it up on a Williams layup. A Kaylene Smikle free throw gave the Terps the lead back and then Shyanne Sellers took Ronnie Porter to the weight room, scoring right over in the paint, and then gave the “too small” gesture on her way back down the court.
Natalie Leuzinger made a layup the next time down the court to cut the lead to one and…then Maryland went on a 14-0 run over four minutes and the game was over. It was a stark reminder of how far the Badgers still have to go in order to be competitive in the Big Ten.
Wisconsin looked confused on defense in the fourth, switching between a zone and man but not being quite sure which one they were running on a given possession. There was one defensive possession where Halle Douglass spent the entire time pointing and yelling and trying to get people set up correctly and they just…never did. It’s extremely frustrating to watch as a fan I can’t imagine what it’s like on the UW bench.
It didn’t really matter, and they were very mindful of the ball through the first three quarters, but UW had SO many turnovers in the final period. They had eight to be exact, committed by six different players, and it was indicative of the meltdown Wisconsin had when the pressure was the highest.OTHER THOUGHTS: Kaylene Smikle is so good and should be a pro; Tessa Grady was listed as “out” on the Big Ten Availability Report but was not on the bench at all and that’s…kinda strange; Halle Douglass is an extremely impressive connective passer; Ronnie Porter has only scored in double figures once in her last eight games and has also only made three triples in the same time frame, however her assists are at a career high and her turnovers at a career low so she isn’t letting it affect the rest of her game; due to a pair of starters being out, Maryland had a shortened rotation and three players ended up with 38+ minutes played
Final Thought
I’ll be honest…this game went WAYYYYYY better than I thought it would. The Badgers came out and weren’t intimidated by the top-ten Terps and matched them blow for blow for the first three quarters. Wisconsin played hard, played well, and Maryland is probably feeling some relief that they’re leaving Madison with a win.
After Lily Krahn’s second three in the first quarter tied the game at 10, Maryland went on a 10-0 run and you certainly weren’t the only one who thought “aw shit, here we go again.” But, Natalie Leuzinger drained a three just before the first quarter buzzer and UW outscored Maryland 7-2 in the first two minutes of the second quarter.
Things went back and forth until halftime and the Badgers entered the break down a respectable seven points. What happened in the locker room we’ll never know, but Marisa Moseley must’ve given a hell of a speech because Wisconsin came out in the second half with their hair on fire.
They forced a Terps turnover, Williams scored a jumper, they forced another turnover, drew a foul, and Carter McCray made a free throw. Suddenly Wisconsin was only down four. After a pair of Maryland free throws, Leuzinger made a three to cut the lead to three. Then the Terps turned it over AGAIN and Lily Krahn drained a three to tie things up! Williams powered through Maryland for a layup to give UW the lead and Brenda Frese had to call timeout.
Wisconsin would push their lead to four but Maryland responded with a 9-0 run. UW tied it up with one minute left but Christina Dalce gave Maryland the lead back with 41 seconds left in the period. Williams scored first in the fourth to tie it up again, but 17 of the next 19 points were scored by the Terps and, well, that was that.
The Badgers punched back until they couldn’t anymore. Maryland is a good, potentially great, team and Wisconsin didn’t look outclassed for 75% of the game. That may not sound too impressive but they looked outclassed for maybe 5% of their recent games against Washington and Oregon. Again, there are no such things as moral victories in Big Ten basketball, but this was at least a shockingly positive performance by a team that could have easily packed it in against a top-ten squad.
Next Game: Thursday, Jan. 16; vs. No. 9 Ohio State Buckeyes; 8:00 p.m. CT; Peacock; Kohl Center