WBB: Wisconsin loses third straight game by 20-plus points
The Badgers fell to Michigan State and are stumbling towards the finish line of the season.
The Wisconsin Badgers women’s basketball team lost to the 22nd ranked Michigan State Spartans on Wednesday by a score of 91-71. MSU jumped out to an early double-digit lead and strolled to victory on the back of a balanced offensive attack that saw four different players score 13 or more points.
UW has now lost four games in a row and nine of their last 10. Here is my full breakdown and analysis of a game that went just about exactly as predicted:
Final Score
Wisconsin Badgers (11-14 overall, 2-12 Big Ten): 71
No. 22 Michigan State Spartans (19-5 overall, 9-4 Big Ten): 91
Four Factors
eFG%: 53.5
Turnover%: 27.5
Off. Rebound%: 36.7
FTA/FGA: 26.3
Key Stats
FG%: 49.1 (28-of-57)
Opp. FG%: 59.1 (39-of-66)
3P%: 26.3 (5-of-19)
Opp. 3P%: 36.4 (8-of-22)
FT%: 66.7 (10-of-15)
Opp. FT%: 62.5 (5-of-8)
Points Per Possession: 1.029
Opponent Points Per Possession: 1.264
Rebounds: 32 (11 offensive)
Opponent Rebounds: 27 (eight offensive)
Turnovers: 19
Forced Turnovers: 13
Team Leaders
Lily Krahn: nine points (3-of-5 FG, 3-of-5 3P), one rebound, two assists, two steals, -2
Serah Williams: 23 points (8-of-13 FG), 12 rebounds (five offensive), three assists, one block, three steals, -31
Carter McCray: 16 points (8-of-12 FG), nine rebounds (six offensive), one assist, -17
Natalie Leuzinger: seven points (3-of-5 FG, 1-of-2 3P), three rebounds, three assists, one steal, -25
Michigan State Team Leaders
Grace VanSlooten: 22 points (10-of-13 FG), five rebounds (one offensive), two assists, two steals, +17
Ines Sotelo: 17 points (8-of-12 FG, 0-of-1 3P), three rebounds (one offensive), three assists, one block, one steal, +5
Theryn Hallock: 18 points (7-of-13 FG, 2-of-6 3P), two rebounds, four assists, one block, one steal, +5
Three-ish Thoughts
In Big Ten play the Badgers have been plagued by slow starts in just about every game. UW has been outscored by 73 points in the first quarter in their 14 Big Ten games, easily their worst of the four quarters. You’d like to think that a well-coached team would come out of the gates hot and playing to the best of their abilities while being the most rested they’d be all game…hmmmmmm. Oddly enough, the third quarter (which comes right after the inspiring halftime speech in the locker room, if movies are to be believed) is actually UW’s “best” in terms of point differential.
Anyways, the Badgers turned it over six times, allowed the Spartans to shoot 63.2% from the field in the first 10 minutes, and entered the second quarter down 11 points. MSU then opened the second quarter on a 9-0 run which, for all intents and purposes, ended this as a competitive game. Following a 10-0 run in the second, UW cut the lead to seven (the closest they’d get after the first quarter) but ended up going into halftime down…11 points.
Another fun fact about the first quarter: only two Wisconsin players, Serah Williams and Carter McCray, scored! Six MSU players got on the scoreboard in the same time frame.Speaking of Carter McCray, she was killing it on the offensive glass all game. She ended up with six offensive boards (Williams had five…which accounts for all 11 the team had) and was battling hard in the post to secure extra possessions for Wisconsin. The Badgers outrebounded the Spartans by five in the game, for what it’s worth.
There are games where I worry McCray is too short to play in the post in the Big Ten and then I look at the box score and see she hauled in nine rebounds and made 8-of-12 field goals and think “maybe I shouldn’t be so concerned about this anymore.”My live game notes on Wisconsin’s defense: “Godawful transition defense for UW,” “SO BAD,” “embarrassing defense from UW in the 3rd.” It was Wisconsin’s second worst defensive game of the season in terms of eFG% allowed and points per possession and it somehow felt worse than that.
An absolutely ASTOUNDING fact that I discovered while tooling around Torvik’s site is: over the last 10 games the Wisconsin Badgers WBB team is ranked 362nd out of 362 D1 teams in defensive eFG%! DEAD LAST IN THE WHOLE FUCKING COUNTRY!?!?!?! They’re also, predictably, dead last in the Big Ten (during Big Ten play) in Adj. Def. Efficiency, turnover’s forced percentage, and defensive 3P%. They’re second to last in defensive eFG% and defensive 2P%.
I noted at one point in the second half that “MSU runs a pleasing offense with good ball movement…maybe it’s just playing Wisconsin’s defense?” The Badgers are the ultimate “get right” game for every other Big Ten offense.
Disgusting, embarrassing, pathetic stuff. I’m going to throw up!This is something that you’ll notice when watching Wisconsin play most Big Ten teams and MSU was no exception. The Spartans were too athletic for Wisconsin’s meager defensive efforts. Theryn Hallock and Jocelyn Tate in particular got wherever they wanted on the court and looked like they were playing at a different speed than Wisconsin’s players.
One of the frustrating things about watching these Badgers is that there ARE some athletic players UW has at their disposal, Marisa Moseley just doesn’t play them. Watching Leena Patibandla during her three minutes of playing time at the end of the game was kind of crazy because…she is just as athletic as Hallock. D’Yanis Jimenez…also an athletic option, although she wasn’t available to play in this one.
At this point in the season, there are a bunch of known quantities on Wisconsin’s team. If one of them is having an “off game” why not try something new and give a younger/less proven player a chance. It worked with Lily Krahn. It can work with other players too!
Continuing to roll with the same starting lineup and rotation all season, especially in the midst of a 1-11 stretch of Big Ten play, seems insane to me. You’re losing most games by 20+ points! What difference does it make if you do that with grad transfers or your own recruits who you don’t play enough?OTHER THOUGHTS: Lily Krahn had a pair of threes and a pair of steals in the second quarter to spark UW’s 10-0 run; MSU’s Grace VanSlooten is a really nice player; MSU freshman big Ines Sotelo is a HOOPER, she had a beautiful spin move that turned into a driving layup in the third and also forced two Halle Douglass turnovers on back-to-back possessions; Sotelo’s 17 points was a career-high; Serah Williams swatted her 200th career shot in this game, becoming only the second Badger to break the 200 blocks barrier; I really liked Alie Bisballe’s minutes and I remain optimistic that she’ll turn into a valuable big by next season
Final Thought
Not really a ton more to say about this one. The Badgers entered the game as 21-point underdogs according to Torvik’s metrics and they ended up losing by 20 points. Sometimes, folks, the computers are right.
With the season winding down, and a Big Ten Tournament bid not guaranteed, the Badgers are bottoming out at the exact wrong time. On Sunday, UW plays at Penn State (1-13 in conference) and a win there will almost assure that the Badgers are playing in the postseason come March.
Here are the current (2/14/25) Bottom 5 Big Ten Standings:
Purdue Boilermakers, 2-11 in conference (have tiebreaker over Wisconsin, Northwestern)
Wisconsin Badgers, 2-11 in conference (have tiebreaker over Rutgers)
Rutgers Scarlet Knights, 2-12 in conference (have tiebreaker over Purdue, Penn State)
Northwestern Wildcats, 1-11 in conference (have tiebreaker over Penn State)
Penn State Nittany Lions, 1-13 in conference
See everyone on Sunday for what surely won’t be a heart-breaking and soul-crushing game of basketball!
Next Game: Sunday, Feb. 16; at Penn State Nittany Lions; 12:00 p.m. CT; B1G+; Bryce Jordan Center; University Park, Pa.