The University of Wisconsin Badgers Women’s Basketball Team (11-14, 2-12 Big Ten) lost for the fourth consecutive outing Wednesday, against the No. 22 Michigan State Spartans (19-5, 9-4). On a snowy evening at the Breslin Center in East Lansing, Mich., Wisconsin trailed from the tip-off in a 91-71 final score.
A superstar matchup between juniors Serah Williams and Grace VanSlooten was on full display, leading their teams by scoring 23 and 22 points, respectively. Williams, who currently ranks sixth in conference points per game, added 12 rebounds to claim her 12th double-double on the season.
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The Spartans, now 9-4 in the Big Ten standings, came off a home loss to Michigan. They displayed a bounce-back performance, led by seven blocks, 11 steals and 27 points off turnovers. This defensive effort paved their way, as they opened the game with three transition buckets to jump to a 6-2 lead. Serah Williams led all scoring in the first quarter with nine points.
The Badgers fell behind further to a 20-point deficit in the second quarter after opening the quarter with a three-minute scoring drought. But junior Lily Krahn and graduate student Tess Myers responded with three 3-point baskets, bringing the game as close as 37-30.
The first half closed with a 43-32 Michigan State lead, following a 7/7 field goal outing from VanSlooten.
The Spartans had a solid team defensive performance and a greater supporting cast for finding points. Junior Theryn Hallock opened the second half with 10 unanswered points, contributing through quick breaks and passes and ending with 18 points and four assists.
The Badgers had multiple scoring droughts in the second half, though they strung a 7-0 run together early in the fourth quarter. Freshman Alie Bisballe added seven points off the bench, setting a season high. But, these late efforts were not enough to challenge Michigan State’s lead.
The Spartans had a total of four players reach double digits, with freshman Inés Sotelo and senior Jocelyn Tate adding 17 and 13 points in addition to VanSlooten and Hallock.
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Badger sophomore Carter McCray nearly posted a double-double, recording 16 points and nine rebounds. Krahn finished 3/5 from 3-point range, totaling nine points, while graduate student Natalie Leuzinger put up 7 points in the second half, including a 3-pointer. Junior Ronnie Porter added 7 assists.
Wisconsin is now 2-12 and 15th in the Big Ten conference standings. With four games left in the season, the Badgers should be focused on securing a top-15 conference finish. Only 15 of 18 conference teams qualify for the Big Ten Championships, which offers a larger platform for the team to make their case for a March Madness bid.
The Badgers play next Sunday, Feb. 16 at Penn State (10-14, 1-12) at noon. This will be an influential game in the Badgers’ efforts to make the conference tournament, as the Badgers look to hold on to their coveted 15th place.