WBB: Wisconsin ends 8-game losing streak in emphatic fashion, upending Michigan on Wednesday night
The Badgers shot the lights out and bested the Wolverines by seven to earn their second Big Ten win of the season.
The Wisconsin Badgers women’s basketball team ended their eight-game losing streak on Wednesday night by fending off the Michigan Wolverines for four quarters at the Kohl Center. Some hot outside shooting by UW, led by Tess Myers, Lily Krahn, and Natalie Leuzinger, and cool as ice free throw shooting in the fourth quarter (Serah Williams 8-of-9 in the final frame!) delivered a much-needed Big Ten victory for the Badgers.
Here is my full recap and analysis of the game:
(While I will reference it, I will not be discussing what Marisa Moseley said after the game about the abuse allegations levied by Tessa Towers. You can read a pair of recaps of her post-game presser at Badger of Honor or at Badger Notes, both of whom had reporters at the game. I will also not be explicitly discussing Towers’ allegations, which is not to diminish their importance and severity, but instead is to use this post-game column to discuss the game.)
Final Score
Wisconsin Badgers (11-10 overall, 2-8 Big Ten): 82
RV Michigan Wolverines (14-7 overall, 5-5 Big Ten): 75
Four Factors
eFG%: 65.3
Turnover%: 29.4
Off. Rebound%: 39.1
FTA/FGA: 42.9
Key Stats
FG%: 53.1 (26-of-49)
Opp. FG%: 47.6 (30-of-63)
3P%: 48.0 (12-of-25)
Opp. 3P%: 30.0 (6-of-20)
FT%: 85.7 (18-of-21)
Opp. FT%: 75.0 (9-of-12)
Points Per Possession: 1.206
Opponent Points Per Possession: 1.103
Rebounds: 29 (nine offensive)
Opponent Rebounds: 27 (13 offensive)
Turnovers: 20
Forced Turnovers: 14
Team Leaders
Lily Krahn: 14 points (4-of-6 FG, 4-of-6 3P), two assists, one steal, +6
Serah Williams: 22 points (7-of-10 FG), seven rebounds (one offensive), two assists, two blocks, one steal, +5
Carter McCray: 10 points (4-of-9 FG), nine rebounds (two offensive), three assists, one steal, +7
Natalie Leuzinger: 12 points (3-of-4 FG, 3-of-4 3P), three rebounds, four assists, one steal, +2
Michigan Team Leaders
Olivia Olson: 30 points (13-of-19 FG, 1-of-5 3P), four rebounds (two offensive), one assist, one block, three steals, -2
Syla Swords: 18 points (7-of-17 FG, 1-of-6 3P), five rebounds (two offensive), one assist, three steals, -7
Mila Holloway: five points (2-of-8 FG, 1-of-2 3P), four rebounds (one offensive), eight assists, two steals, -12
Three-ish Thoughts
While we have known for weeks that Tessa Grady is no longer on the team, despite Wisconsin continuing to list her on the Big Ten Availability Report, Grady officially announced Thursday afternoon on Twitter, among other social media platforms, that she has decided “to take a leave of absence from the team for personal reasons.”
Current players like Halle Douglass and Alie Bisballe as well as former Badgers like Sacia Vanderpool and Brooke Schramek all commented some form of “love you” and then heart emojis on Grady’s Instagram. Wisconsin men’s player Jack Janicki as well as Grady’s teammate D’Yanis Jimenez and former UW player Sara Stapleton all liked the post too.
The sharpshooter from Ohio only appeared in five games for the Badgers this season, but was 3-of-5 from beyond the arc in her limited playing time. As a freshman last year, Grady shot 24-of-70 (34.3%) from deep in 25 games (9.4 minutes per game) played. I wish Grady the best of luck with whatever she decides to do next and I hope she is able to find peace sooner rather than later.On to the game, which was actually really, really good! I wasn’t sure what to expect from the Badgers in this game, but I certainly didn’t expect them to come out and go blow for blow with a Michigan team that was ranked 26th in the most recent AP Poll.
Lily Krahn and Natalie Leuzinger each made two three-pointers in the first quarter and, despite an early Kill Shot (10-0 run) by Michigan, the Badgers were only down one after 10 minutes. They went into halftime with a lead and entered the fourth quarter tied. UW ended the game with a free throw shooting clinic and earned their biggest win, by far, of the year.
It is a testament to their resilience that the Badgers were able to block out the outside noise and play their best basketball of the season. Standout performances abounded for Wisconsin.I would be remiss if I didn’t mention Lily Krahn first. She came off the bench in the first quarter and, within 30 seconds, nailed her first three-pointer of the game. She made two in the first quarter and then one each in the second and third quarters to help propel UW’s offense to their best shooting night of the year.
Krahn has been a difference maker for Wisconsin this season with her lethal, microwave-esque outside shooting. She is still developing the rest of her game, but it was promising to see her dish out two assists (including a really nice pass to Serah Williams at the rim after driving baseline) against the Wolverines.Tess Myers badly air-balled a three near the beginning of the game and I’m sure I wasn’t the only one who thought “oh boy, here we go again!” Myers, like any good shooter, didn’t let that deter her however and she ended the game 4-of-8 from deep. She made back-to-back threes at one point in the second quarter that forced Kim Barnes Arico to call a timeout to stop Wisconsin’s momentum.
It was her last three, though, that I think was the most important. Michigan’s Olivia Olson had just converted an old fashioned three-point play to push the Wolverines’ lead to four with 4:48 to go. Olson, and her Michigan teammates, were fired up and if Wisconsin had an empty possession after that…it might’ve been curtains for their upset bid.
Myers was unfazed by all of that and left a ball-watching Olson in the dust as she (Myers that is) ran off a Serah Williams screen to knock down a huge three right in front of the Wisconsin bench. That’s the exact type of shot Marisa Moseley brought the veteran in to make and she did it with supreme confidence.
Wisconsin gave up 19 fastbreak points to Michigan in the first half and the Wolverines looked like they were toying with the Badgers whenever they got out and ran. Credit to Moseley’s halftime adjustments because Michigan only scored five points on the break in the final two quarters.
Shoutout to super seniors Natalie Leuzinger and Halle Douglass for making a pair of Winning Plays in this one. Leuzinger dove on the floor for a loose ball to secure a Wisconsin possession and Douglass threw it off UM player while falling out of bounds to extend a Wisconsin possession. Heady stuff from the veterans.
Absolutely bonkers second half from Serah Williams. Michigan held her to two points on three field goal attempts in the first half while forcing her into three turnovers, two of which were on awful entry passes to Carter McCray. Something clicked at halftime though and Williams was a different player over the final 20 minutes.
She dropped 20 points in the second half (14 in the fourth quarter) on 6-of-7 shooting from the field and 8-of-9 shooting from the free throw line. She had multiple huge and-ones that kept Wisconsin in the game and she also didn’t turn the ball over once. What a player she is!QUICK THOUGHTS: UW was better on the boards in this game (+2 rebounds) than last game, when they were embarrassed by Minnesota; Michigan’s Olivia Olson is a Hooper; Carter McCray had two absolutely MASSIVE rebounds, which is why she was brought in from the transfer portal, in the final 30 seconds of the game to help secure Wisconsin’s win; another rough shooting night for Ronnie Porter, but she had eight assists and three steals while making two big free throws at the end of the game; she didn’t play at all in the first, third, or fourth quarters, but freshman Gracie Grzesk started the second quarter on the floor for UW.
Final Thought
Before this game I was about 90% confident that the Badgers wouldn’t even make the Big Ten Tournament this season. Now? It’s probably a coin-flip to be honest. They are slight favorites (according to Torvik’s site) against Purdue on Sunday and are also favored to beat Northwestern at the end of February. Four conference wins, especially with three of them coming against teams they are battling for BTT position with, could (should?) be enough come March.
The Badgers also just needed to fucking win a game, man. Losing eight in a row is brutal and weighs on you like an anchor until you finally snap the streak. Wisconsin’s players probably felt like they were walking on air Thursday while heading to class/practice/whatever.
UW has plenty to fix still, both on and off the court, but a win against Michigan can cure many of the (on-court) problems. Picking up a second straight win this weekend could really get this train picking up speed towards the postseason.
Next Game: Sunday, Feb. 2; at Purdue Boilermakers; 1:00 p.m. CT; B1G+; Mackey Arena; West Lafayette, Ind.