WBB Recap: Wisconsin bounces back and dismantles Milwaukee on Sunday afternoon
The Badgers were moving the ball like the Showtime Lakers and took the Panthers down by 37.
After suffering their first loss of the season, the Wisconsin Badgers women’s basketball team returned home to the Kohl Center on Sunday afternoon and dispatched in-state rivals Milwaukee with ease. UW was up 20 at halftime and put it on cruise control the rest of the way to win 82-45.
Four Badgers scored in double-figures and Wisconsin had 23 assists on 33 made field goals. It was an excellent “get right” game for UW, so let’s take a look at how it all happened!
Final Score
Wisconsin Badgers (3-1 overall, 0-0 Big Ten): 82
Milwaukee Panthers (2-3 overall, 0-0 Horizon): 45
Four Factors
eFG%: 54.3
Turnover%: 16.1
Off. Rebound%: 41.7
FTA/FGA: 13.0
Key Stats
FG%: 47.8 (33-of-69)
Opp. FG%: 30.5 (18-of-59)
3P%: 40.9 (9-of-22)
Opp. 3P%: 13.0 (3-of-23)
FT%: 77.8 (7-of-9)
Opp. FT%: 75.0 (6-of-8)
Points Per Possession: 1.206
Opponent Points Per Possession: 0.692
Rebounds: 52 (15 offensive)
Opponent Rebounds: 27 (six offensive)
Turnovers: 11
Forced Turnovers: 11
Team Leaders
Ronnie Porter: 11 points (4-of-8 FG, 2-of-4 3P), four rebounds (one offensive), six assists, +29
Serah Williams: 14 points (7-of-13 FG), eight rebounds (two offensive), four assists, three blocks, +36
Tess Myers: 15 points (5-of-9 FG, 5-of-9 3P), three rebounds, one assist, one steal, +37
Carter McCray: 15 points (5-of-9 FG), nine rebounds (three offensive), two steals, +19
Milwaukee Team Leaders
Jada Donaldson: 10 points (4-of-7 FG, 1-of-2 3P), five rebounds (one offensive), one assist, -27
Payton Rechlicz: seven points (3-of-6 FG, 1-of-3 3P), two rebounds (one offensive), two steals, -13
Three-ish Thoughts
The Badgers got out and ran against the Panthers, scoring 16 fast break points in the game. D’Yanis Jimenez runs the floor like a bolt of lightning and attacks the rim well. Ronnie Porter has been an excellent floor general on the break, finding the open player to get the ball to or, if the situation dictates, slowing things up and getting back into the regular offense.
There was one really nice transition play where Jimenez rifled a pass down the court to Halle Douglass who then did an extremely impressive touch pass to a cutting Jovana Spasovski for a layup. Everyone involved made the correct read and almost seemed to be connected telepathically. Getting easy buckets like that will be crucial once UW enters conference play and the defenses improve.Speaking of passing the ball, the Badgers were really good at it on Sunday! As a team, Wisconsin had an assist rate of 69.7% which means that nearly 70% of their made baskets came via assist. Douglass (41%), Porter (35%), Jimenez (30%), and Serah Williams (28%) all had a nice day passing the rock.
Milwaukee tried to swarm Williams in the post early and often, but the junior big did a good job at understanding where the double team was coming from and knowing who would be open on the perimeter. Two of Williams’ four helpers were converted into three pointers and one was a Big-to-Big dime that Carter McCray turned into a layup.
Porter hasn’t been scoring as much the past two games, but she has 10 assists and only one turnover and is turning into the consummate point guard. Douglass and Jimenez are two players who fly a bit under the radar in terms of their playmaking, but they are both capable of reading the floor and finding an open teammate.Jimenez is a player that still puzzles me, however. Her assist numbers have improved every game this year (going from zero to one to two to three) and she is averaging a steal per game on defense, but she has yet to record a turnover percentage below 39% (her season rate is 43.3%) and has a preposterous usage rate of 28.8%, the second highest on the team behind Williams.
To put those numbers into perspective: last season among players that had a usage rate higher than 28%, the worst turnover rate recorded was 32.4%. That player also had an assist rate of 24.4%, while Jimenez’s is 15.8% this year. Now, all of the “small sample size” caveats apply here since the Badgers have only played four games, but the numbers don’t like Jimenez much.
I find that is extremely helpful to, you know, watch the games too and it is there where I find a disconnect in what Jimenez’s stats say and what is actually happening on the court. Does she sometimes make a bad pass that she wishes she hadn’t? Of course, every player does. But one of her three turnovers on Sunday was the result of her being in the right place at the right time trying to save a possession for her team, but she couldn’t get a behind the back while falling out of bounds pass to a teammate.
Was that play statistically a turnover? Yes, it has to be marked as something in the box score. But, I’m sure when watching that play back after the game the coaching staff praised Jimenez for her hustle. There’s a reason Jimenez continues to see almost 14 minutes of playing time per game on a deeper team than Marisa Moseley has had in her three years. Once she allows her offense to come to her instead of trying to force shots, I think she has the makings of a Sixth Woman of the Year in the Big Ten.I loved Jovanna Spasovski’s rebounding. She was routinely in the right spot to pick up the loose ball and, as a result, got a handful of easy buckets.
When looking at the box score before watching the game, I noted that UWM attempted 23 three-pointers (second most allowed by UW on the season) and I was interested in seeing if there was a defensive break down by Wisconsin or not.
The Panthers came into the game on a bit of a hot streak from beyond the arc, having made an average of 10 per game in their previous three, but the Badgers were able to hold them in check thanks in large part to forcing Milwaukee to shoot from deeper than they wanted.
I didn’t have my measuring tape out, but the Panthers regularly hucked up threes from a foot or two beyond the arc and it greatly affected their ability to make them.Milwaukee switched to a zone a few times during the game and it initially gave UW trouble. However, once they saw it for a few possessions they started moving the ball more crisply and Tess Myers busted it with a pair of three-pointers. It’s probably too early in the season to say this but…Myers’ three-point shooting is a pretty good indicator, so far, on how Wisconsin is playing.
Important note: near the end of the third quarter Carter McCray scored while losing a shoe. She now leads the team with two points while having fewer than two shoes on. Something to keep an eye on as the season progresses.
Final Thought
In Marisa Moseley’s first season as the head coach in Madison, the Badgers played Milwaukee to open the year. They won by nine. Her second season saw the Panthers up first on the schedule again and UW won by 11. This year? It was complete and utter dominance from start to finish.
Now, is Milwaukee the measuring stick that the Badgers want to be using? No, of course not. HOWEVAH, like many things this season, beating the Panthers by three times as many points as last year is a marked, measurable improvement. Turnovers are way down, scoring is up, they’re shooting threes at a, frankly, unsustainable clip, they aren’t giving up second chance opportunities…they are playing like a well-coached, well-drilled, cohesive unit.
Marisa Moseley has the program pointed in the right direction and while it might not be happening as quickly as everyone would like it, you can’t really complain about steady, sustained improvement year over year. With the Big Ten becoming way tougher due to the new West Coast additions, it’s good that the Badgers are already on their upward trajectory because otherwise they might struggle to get out of the conference cellar.
Next Game: Thursday, Nov. 21; vs. UIC; 6:30 p.m. CT; B1G+; Kohl Center