WBB: Wisconsin walloped on Wednesday night in fifth straight loss

A balanced, and lethal, Illinois offensive attack turned this one into a laugher by halftime.

Coming off of a two-game homestand where they lost to Indiana by three and took a top-25 Washington team to overtime before losing, the Wisconsin Badgers women’s basketball team may have been hoping that a change of venue for Wednesday night’s game would reverse their fortunes. Hope? More like nope.

The Illinois Fighting Illini outscored UW by eight points in each quarter on their way to an easy, breezy 32-point win. Gift Uchenna made a layup to tie things at nine halfway through the first quarter and the Badgers never got closer than three points after that. This probably won’t be a game that the team watches to try and glean anything from, but that doesn’t mean we can’t dive deep on it!

Here is my full recap and analysis:

Final Score

Wisconsin Badgers (13-12 overall, 5-9 Big Ten): 60
RV Illinois Fighting Illini (17-8 overall, 7-7 Big Ten): 92

Four Factors

eFG%: 40.8%
Turnover%: 16.9%
Off. Rebound%: 32.6%
FTA/FGA: 18.5

Key Stats

FG%: 36.9 (24-of-65)
Opp. FG%: 58.1 (36-of-62)
3P%: 21.7 (5-of-23)
Opp. 3P%: 64.7 (11-of-17)
FT%: 58.3 (7-of-12)
Opp. FT%: 75.0 (9-of-12)
Points Per Possession: 0.923
Opponent Points Per Possession: 1.460
Rebounds: 31 (14 offensive)
Opponent Rebounds: 39 (10 offensive)
Turnovers: 11
Forced Turnovers: eight

Team Leaders

• Gift Uchenna: 13 points (6-of-13 FG), seven rebounds (five offensive), one assist, one block, one steal, one turnover, -20

• Dorja Zaja: 16 points (7-of-11 FG), one rebound, one block, three turnovers, -19 (career-high points)

• Shay Bollin: four points (1-of-3 FG, 1-of-3 3P), three rebounds, four assists, -13

• Kyrah Daniels: six points (2-of-10 FG, 0-of-5 3P), six rebounds (four offensive), five assists, one turnover, -30

Illinois Team Leaders

• Cearah Parchment: 12 points (4-of-7 FG, 1-of-4 3P), 15 rebounds (three offensive), four assists, two steals, one turnover, +26

• Aaliyah Guyton: 22 points (8-of-13 FG, 6-of-6 3P), two rebounds (two offensive), six assists, two turnovers, +30 (career-high points)

• Maddie Webber: 15 points (7-of-9 FG, 1-of-1 3P), two rebounds, two assists, one steal, +6

Three-ish Thoughts

1. One of the only positives in this game for Wisconsin was the play of freshman post Dorja Zaja. The Croatian freshman poured in a career-high 16 points on 7-of-11 shooting and was often the only Badgers player who looked awake on offense. She set career marks in multiple categories including: minutes played, field goals made, field goals attempted, and the aforementioned points scored.
   
   As the competition has improved this season, Zaja’s defense hasn’t been as good in terms of counting stats, but I do think she is still an above average player there even if she isn’t getting a ton of blocks. However on offense, she has stayed relatively consistent all season and, if anything, has improved as we’ve gotten deeper into Big Ten play.

   She shows good touch around the basket, has an expanding set of post moves, and doesn’t appear to get rattled easily even in hostile road environments. If Zaja, who drained a Dirk Nowitzki-style fadeaway in the third quarter, can extend her range out closer to the three-point line, she’ll become a potent threat on offense for Wisconsin next year.

2. There are some people who are against zone defense on a moral level, but I’m not one of them. If you run a zone, that’s fine by me…just run it well. John Chaney at Temple, Jim Boeheim at Syracuse, Muffet McGraw at Notre Dame, and Joe Gallo at Merrimack (seriously, check out this interesting video from Jordan Sperber at Hoop Vision on Merrimack’s wild defense) are all names that come to mind when discussing zone defenses. Hell, even South Carolina’s Dawn Staley, whose multiple championship teams have thrived with a vicious man-to-man defense, has sprinkled in some zone this year.
   
   Robin Pingeton’s Badgers have occasionally used a zone this year, oftentimes right out of a timeout or on the first possession after a quarter break, and it almost always ends with the opposing team scoring points or, at best, getting an uncontested look at the basket. A zone defense thrives when you have a team of long, athletic, and connected defenders who communicate well which, I’ll be honest here, Wisconsin doesn’t have.
   
   Illinois is ranked 309th in three-point rate so you could generously say that a three isn’t the first shot they’re looking for on an average possession, however, they are a top-50 team nationally in 3P%, so you’d think you wouldn’t want to encourage them to shoot more of them…right? Well, the Illini clearly noticed what Wisconsin was doing because they attempted eight three-pointers in the first quarter (they only attempted 17 all game) and made four of them, with their misses still being good looks. The Badgers were in a 3-2 zone, as far as I could tell, and they couldn’t ever figure out their rotations properly which left Illini players WIDE OPEN in the corners.
   
   Going into halftime, Illinois head coach Shauna Green gave a quick interview and (I’m paraphrasing a bit) said, “[Wisconsin] went zone a lot so we knew we were gonna take a lot of threes. Just taking what they’re giving us.” I’ve kind of gone down a rabbit hole of zone defense videos and articles while writing this post, so maybe I’ll write a separate one specifically about what I find because it’s too much for a game recap.

3. As noted, the Illini shot the lights out from three in this one. They were 11-of-17 in the game and 5-of-6 in the second half. The Badgers, on the other hand, couldn’t hit a lake if they fell out of a boat. Their five makes from beyond the arc is tied for their second worst total of the season and they didn’t have any players make more than one three-pointer all night.
   
   I actually didn’t think the Illini played particularly tough defense on the perimeter, Wisconsin just kinda missed a bunch of shots. Kyrah Daniels went 0-of-5, Destiny Howell and Laci Steele were each 1-of-4, while Lily Krahn and Shay Bollin both made one of their three attempts. In the second half, when UW was trying to mount some sort of comeback, they only made 1-of-11 from deep and that sums up the game for Wisconsin.

4. Basketball is a game of runs, an announcer will inevitably say when one team is outscoring the other over a couple of minutes and as cliche as it sounds…it’s true. The Illini held Wisconsin scoreless for a span of 5:42 during the second quarter and rattled off a 13-0 run during that span. The Badgers shot 0-for-9 during that stretch. Illinois closed the first half going 6-for-7 from the field while Wisconsin finished the half 2-for-12.
   
   After Dorja Zaja made a layup with 8:14 to go in the second, UW had just cut the lead to five points. At the 2:15 mark of the second quarter, when Zaja made Wisconsin’s next bucket, the Badgers were down 18.
   
   While both teams had their highest scoring period in the third quarter, Illinois went on a stretch of making 11 straight field goals en route to 26 points and put to bed any idea of Wisconsin making a comeback. The Badgers’ only run of note was a 9-0 stretch over the final 2:34 of the game which could charitably be referred to as “garbage time.”

5. There’s a little something that I think all of us need to become more aware of in our lives, and that’s professional courtesy. In an increasingly polarized world, it’s the little things that can make a big difference in your interpersonal relationships. Holding the door open for someone, making more coffee when you kill the pot, letting a person in front of you in line at the grocery store when you have a full cart and they just have a couple of items, laughing at your co-workers jokes.
   
   All of these are important, but I want to focus on the last one.
   
   During the broadcast on Wednesday night, the B1G+ color commentator (I believe his name is Tony Fanara) tried to do his literal job by injecting a little “color” into the broadcast of a game that was quickly turning into a blowout. The Illini’s Maddie Webber, a player usually more known for her three-point shooting prowess, hit a couple of mid-range jumpers in a row and Fanara said something to the tune of “if she keeps making those we’re going to have to call her ‘Middie’ Webber.”

   Now, regardless of what he may have personally thought about this joke and the merits of puns, it is a PROFESSIONAL COURTESY for Scott Sudikoff (B1G+ play-by-play guy and Fanara’s ALLEGED PARTNER) to respond to this wordplay. He could’ve either continued the riff, audibly groaned to garner a laugh from Fanara, or simply laughed along with his partner.
   
   What Sudikoff ended up doing, and what still has me hot even after sleeping on it, was nothing. He didn’t say or do anything! He moved on to the next play like nothing had been said at all! The joke just hung there like a breaking ball your baseball team’s worst reliever throws to Shohei Ohtani before it’s deposited 450 feet away in the bleachers.
   
   A heartbreaking dereliction of duty by not only a co-worker, but by a fellow dude. Dudes rock and we, all of us because “dudes” aren’t just the fellas, must do better.

6. QUICK THOUGHTS: the all-time series between Wisconsin and Illinois is now tied, 43-43; after missing three straight games, Breauna Ware was available for UW on Wednesday but she only played three minutes, missing her only field goal attempt and both of her free throws; the Badgers bench scored 32 points, the most the reserves have scored in Big Ten play this year; the Illini’s Aaliyah Guyton (6-of-6 3P) set the program record for 3P% (min. six makes) and tied the conference record (min. five makes, B1G games only); Illinois freshman sensation Cearah Parchment ended the first quarter with nine points AND nine rebounds, and recorded a double-double with 7:29 to go in the second quarter; Parchment has nine double-doubles this year which leads B1G rookies and is fourth in the nation; six Illinois players scored in double figures; Gift Uchenna scored in double figures for the tenth time this year; UW had the fifth best offensive rebounding performance against Illinois, a very good defensive rebounding team, of the year; Wisconsin’s 23 three-point attempts were the most Illinois has allowed to a Big Ten team all season

Final Thought

There isn’t a ton more to discuss about this game. Illinois didn’t beat themselves and, instead, spent the entire game beating down Wisconsin. The Illini came into the night having lost four of their last five and seven of their last 10, so they definitely needed a “get right” game before the stretch run to try and earn an NCAA Tournament bid.

Wisconsin is still mired in a losing streak of their own, five straight Ls now, and have a final four games where each opponent is ranked in the top-15 of Bart Torvik’s algorithm. I’ve mentioned before that this UW team has the memory of a goldfish, but they might have hit a wall once February started. The odds of them finishing the regular season on a nine-game losing streak are well over 50% and that would be extremely disappointing after sitting at 13-7 overall after beating Nebraska on Jan. 21.

Given the fact that Wisconsin went through a coaching change and a massive roster overhaul in the past year I’d still say this season was a success, but I’m certain the players/coaches won’t see it that way. A Border Battle rematch with Minnesota awaits on Sunday in Madison and the Gophers could be on a seven-game winning streak (they play Nebraska Thursday night aka a few hours from when I send this) which is almost the exact opposite direction the Badgers are headed.

Hopefully they don’t lose by more than 35 points!

Next Game: Sunday, Feb. 15; vs. Minnesota Golden Gophers; 5:00 p.m. CT; B1G+; Kohl Center; Madison, Wis.