WBB Big Ten Tournament: Iowa rips Wisconsin to shreds in first round bloodbath
Somehow a 27-point difference doesn't even begin to do the bludgeoning justice.
The Wisconsin Badgers women’s basketball team ended their season with a whimper, getting run off the floor by an Iowa Hawkeyes team that looked like they were playing against an early season non-conference cupcake and not, you know, an ostensible conference rival.
Iowa won 81-54 and the game was never in doubt after the halfway mark of the first quarter. This was an extremely disheartening ending to an extremely disappointing season for UW. So, uhhhhhh, please keep reading?
Here is my full breakdown and analysis:
Final Score
Wisconsin Badgers (13-17 overall, 4-14 Big Ten): 54
RV Iowa Hawkeyes (21-9 overall, 10-8 Big Ten): 81
Four Factors
eFG%: 43.6
Turnover%: 19.7
Off. Rebound%: 16.4
FTA/FGA: 27.3
Key Stats
FG%: 38.2 (21-of-55)
Opp. FG%: 57.4 (35-of-61)
3P%: 46.2 (6-of-13)
Opp. 3P%: 55.0 (11-of-20)
FT%: 66.7 (6-of-9)
Opp. FT%: 0.0 (0-of-1)
Points Per Possession: 0.818
Opponent Points Per Possession: 1.227
Rebounds: 19 (five offensive)
Opponent Rebounds: 41 (11 offensive)
Turnovers: 13
Forced Turnovers: 15
Team Leaders
Serah Williams: 22 points (9-of-16 FG), five rebounds (one offensive), one assist, five blocks, three steals, -14
Carter McCray: six points (3-of-6 FG), two rebounds (one offensive), one assist, one steal, -20
Ronnie Porter: six points (2-of-8 FG, 2-of-3 3P), one rebound, six assists, one block, two steals, -21
Natalie Leuzinger: six points (2-of-10 FG, 2-of-5 3P), three rebounds (one offensive), five assists, three steals, -20
Iowa Team Leaders
Kylie Feuerbach: nine points (4-of-6 FG, 1-of-3 3P), one rebound, six assists, one block, three steals, +23
Lucy Olsen: 19 points (8-of-12 FG, 3-of-4 3P), two rebounds, three assists, one steal, +22
Sydney Affolter: nine points (4-of-4 FG, 1-of-1 3P), seven rebounds (one offensive), one assist, +14
Three-ish Thoughts
With 6:37 to go in the first quarter, Tess Myers drilled a jumper to give Wisconsin a 9-6 lead. This is important in the flow of the game for a number of reasons! Firstly, the three-point lead was the largest Wisconsin would have all game.
Secondly, the Badgers didn’t score again in the first quarter. I’m going to type this out one more time because, quite frankly, I still find it a bit unbelievable. The Wisconsin Badgers went the final 6:37 of the first quarter without scoring a single point. Iowa went on a 19-0 run to end the quarter!
“I think our first quarter really hurt us as far as being able to get a rhythm going. The ball just wouldn't go in the basket for us,” head coach Marisa Moseley said after the game. Yup, that’s what happened!
In the first quarter, UW: allowed Iowa to shoot 73.3% from the field, got out-rebounded 10-3, and turned the ball over five times. It was one of the worst quarters of basketball the Badgers played all season and it came in a game they, I assume, knew was in a single-elimination tournament.Iowa star guard Lucy Olsen (who scored her 2,000th career point in this game) spent the limited minutes she had to play abusing a series of Wisconsin defenders to the tune of 8-of-12 FG and 3-of-4 3P. Tess Myers, Natalie Leuzinger, and Lily Krahn all tried to stop her, but to no avail. Wisconsin’s defense was/is bad, but even on the rare occasions it was GOOD, Olsen still torched the Badgers.
This game was such a blowout that Olsen only played seven minutes in the second half loooool!
Here are some of my fun halftime notes: “Abysmal first half for Wisconsin;” 1-of-8 on layups at halftime; 21-8 losing rebounding battle too. Iowa outscored UW by 14 points in the paint in the first half, 5-0 on the break, and 6-2 off of turnovers. Literally any statistical category you can think of…the Hawkeyes dominated the Badgers.
You Know What Really Grinds My Gears? This stuff: going under screens when Iowa is shooting 60% from three; Wisconsin’s transition defense, which remains embarrassing; the Badgers are bad at setting screens too
I thought Alie Bisballe’s stroke on her three-pointer looked nice. Having a stretch big in the rotation next year will really open up the offense to some new styles of play. As mentioned before, I wish she had gotten more playing time throughout the season.
OTHER THOUGHTS: Serah Williams with eight stocks (steals+blocks) is super impressive; this was also Williams’ 15th game scoring 20 or more points this year; kinda weird that Carter McCray (zero fouls) only played 15 minutes, but I suppose Iowa’s guard-heavy lineup isn’t a great matchup for her; Iowa only shot one (1) free throw, which they missed, all game; Ronnie Porter with another solid assist-to-turnover (6:2) ratio
Final Thought
Look, I didn’t think Wisconsin was going to win this game, but I also didn’t think I could’ve turned it off halfway through the first quarter and not missed anything good from UW. This was an embarrassing performance by the Badgers, so thank God it was on Peacock and not a regular channel that more people subscribe to.
You may remember that Wisconsin and Iowa played each other a mere four days prior to their Big Ten Tournament matchup, which the Hawkeyes won by 15. You may think that this fact would mean the Badgers and Marisa Moseley would have some new wrinkles to throw at a recent opponent or maybe an idea on how to stop said opponent from getting whatever they wanted on offense. If you thought that, you are very dumb.
The Badgers played so poorly and looked so overmatched that it wouldn’t be crazy to ask Marisa Moseley if they practiced at all before the game. Or, if they did practice, did they scout the wrong team? Let’s compare some stats from the two game. Skip this part if you don’t want to get sad! (First Iowa Game —> BTT Iowa Game)
UW Off. Rating: 98.5 —> 80.6
UW Def. Rating: 124.6 —> 124.6 (tied for UW’s third worst of the year)
UW Points Per Possession: 0.88 —> 0.75
UW eFG%: 48.2% —> 43.6%
Iowa PPP: 1.07 —> 1.07 (incredibly, neither of these games are in the bottom five for UW’s defense this year)
Iowa eFG%: 57.8% —> 66.4% (the BTT game was the second worst eFG% allowed by UW this year)
Her Hoops Stats UW win%: 5.0% —> 8.3% (see, even the Numbers thought Wisconsin would be better in round two!)
Wisconsin’s net rating (-44.0) was their second worst of the year too! It was a brutal game.
There were a couple of positive changes, namely the Badgers shot better from three in the second game and had a better assist-to-turnover ratio as well. They just didn’t shoot enough threes for it to matter.
I don’t know if there is a way to put this politely, but this team didn’t look like they wanted to be there. The team didn’t quit, per se, but once Iowa went on their huge run in the first quarter I think everyone on the court just accepted the inevitable outcome and were content to play out the string at three-quarters speed. Moseley mentioned in her post-game presser that there may have been a few plays that were “a little bit demoralizing” during the run that UW will have to learn from so they can be “sharper” and “execute a little better” in the future.
That’s some pretty solid Coach Speak after receiving a beat down, but it doesn’t mean anything. The Badgers needed to be sharper BEFORE the game though. Getting pounded this badly against an opponent you just played days prior is the sign of a poorly coached team. Before the Big Ten Tournament I didn’t think UW needed a coaching change (if we are looking at on-court results only which, obviously, we aren’t in the real world) but now I’m not so sure.
A lifeless performance like that, in March no less, makes me wonder if Marisa Moseley has lost the locker room. Regardless of what happens at head coach, next year’s roster is going to look extremely different from this year’s. Starters Natalie Leuzinger and Tess Myers have graduated as has sixth woman Halle Douglass. I have no “inside information” or anything but obviously there will be movement in the transfer portal, both comings and goings.
My final feeling, after ruminating on it for two days, is that Moseley should be given another year (unless the off-the-court allegations of abuse are found to be true by UW) but should also have certain benchmarks that she must reach next year that are nonnegotiable. Finish with a .500 record, win more than six Big Ten games, play young players more? I don’t know, I’m just spit-balling here.
Well, it’s the off-season now and I’ll have much more to come in the following weeks/months on the Badgers.
Next Game: Next year? The WNIT?? WHO KNOWS??????? The Badgers are projected to be invited to the WNIT, but the question is will they accept the bid.
Anticipate a much needed top to bottom program rebuild to begin soon