Badgers drop road battle to Hoosiers, 69-55

Cayla McMorris leads Wisconsin with 20 points

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – Despite cutting Indiana’s lead to six with under five minutes to go in the fourth quarter, the Wisconsin women’s basketball team (8-14 overall, 1-8 Big Ten) fell Wednesday night against the Hoosiers, 69-55.

Hot shooting from Marsha Howard and Cayla McMorris led the fourth-quarter comeback for Wisconsin. The Badgers brought it within six points for the final time (59-53) after a Howard layup at the 3:44 mark. However, for every Badger basket, Indiana senior Tyra Buss was there to answer. Buss led a 10-1 run in the fourth quarter that put the game away for the Hoosiers.

McMorris had an explosive fourth quarter and helped make it an exciting game, putting up 11 points in the fourth period alone, cutting IU’s lead to six points twice under the six-minute mark in the fourth quarter.

Wisconsin trailed by only eight points at the half and 10 points heading into the fourth quarter. Despite hanging tight, it was turnovers that prevented Wisconsin from completing the comeback over the Hoosiers (10-12, 3-6). The Hoosiers caused 17 Badger turnovers.

McMorris led the way with 20 points and seven rebounds. Howard had another impressive game adding 17 points and three rebounds.

Wisconsin shot 42 percent (21-50) from the field, but were outgunned by Indiana who made nearly half its baskets (49.1 percent) shooting 26-of-53 on the night.

The Hoosiers capitalized on the Badgers’ turnovers, scoring 20 points off those missed possessions. Wisconsin only had four more turnovers than Indiana, but was outscored off of those turnovers, 20-10.

The Hoosiers jumped on the Badgers early with 44.8 percent shooting in the first half and a 14-point lead with 3:02 remaining in the second quarter. Despite shooting 41.7 percent (10-24) from the field in the first half, the Badgers struggled to find their offensive footing. UW put together an 8-0 run to end the second quarter, trailing only by eight heading into halftime.

Foul trouble (18) plagued the Badgers throughout the game and kept dominant scorer, Howard out for most of the third quarter. Wisconsin exchanged baskets with Indiana in the third, having the lead only grow by two points, 48-38 heading into the final quarter.

Indiana’s Buss ended with 29 points and four assists in the game.

Turning Point

The Badgers fell into a hole early, giving up 21 first quarter points (21-13). The early deficit was too much for Wisconsin to overcome.

Notes to Know:

-The Badgers never led in Wednesday night’s game

-Wisconsin shot 71.4 percent percent from the free throw line against the Hoosiers

–Cayla McMorris‘ 20 points against the Hoosiers brings her career total to 978 and is only 22 points shy of a 1000-point career mark.

-McMorris led the Badgers with 20 points, her third 20+ point game this season. She scored in double figures for the fifth straight game.

-Junior Marsha Howard scored in double figures for the third straight game and for the fifth time in last six games.

-Sophomore Kendra Van Leeuwen recorded a team season-high five steals, just one off her career best.

-Wisconsin was outrebounded 33-27

Straight from the Court

Head Coach Jonathan Tsipis

“When you have that eight-point margin, you can’t come up empty. Sometimes we got shots, but they weren’t shots we normally take. The turnovers hurt us… and we need to manufacture some baskets off of defensive rebounds.

“I thought we fought back throughout the game, but we have got to get it down to a one-possession game, especially on the road.”

Up Next

The Badgers head south Sunday to Urbana-Champaign to take on the Illinois Fighting Illini at 3 p.m. in the State Farm Center.