Minnesota 88 Wisconsin 83 OT

Credit Source: University of Wisconsin Athletics

MADISON, Wis. – Sophomore Julie Pospisilova dropped a new career high in scoring but it wasn’t enough as the Wisconsin women’s basketball team fell in overtime to Minnesota, 88-83, Sunday afternoon at the Kohl Center.

The Badgers (3-4, 0-3 B1G) trailed by as many as 12 points in the second quarter but staged a second-half comeback, outscoring the Gophers (2-4, 1-3) in the third and fourth periods to force overtime. Minnesota led 41-30 at the half before Wisconsin began its rally.

Freshman Brooke Schramek hit a 3-pointer with 3:33 to play in the third quarter to cut the Gopher lead to two (50-48). Minnesota got its lead back up to six points several times, including with 8:38 to play in regulation, when the visitors led 62-56. A Sydney Hilliard drive and two free throws by Estella Moschkau tied the score at 64 with 3:59 remaining.

Every time the Badgers would tie the score, UM would respond with a basket. The Gophers led 70-68 with 23 seconds to play but Wisconsin’s Imani Lewis drove the lane and scored in the paint with six seconds on the clock. Moschkau came up with a crucial block as time ran out to send the game into overtime.

 

Minnesota scored the first seven points of OT before UW responded with four straight to make it 77-74 with 2:54 to play. A Pospisilova triple cut the lead to two (82-80) with 1:01 to play but the Badgers were assessed a technical foul after calling a time out when they had none remaining. The Gophers went 6-6 from the FT line over the last 23 seconds as UW was forced to foul.

The Badgers shot a season-high 58.2 percent (32-55) from the field, including a season-best 53.3 percent (8-15) from 3-point range. The Gophers hit just 38.8 percent (31-80) from field goal range but made 10 triples. Minnesota also outrebounded UW 39-36 and recorded nine steals as Wisconsin had 21 turnovers. UM scored 25 points off Badger giveaways.

Leading all scorers was Pospisilova, dropping a career-high 28 points in 42 minutes on the court. The sophomore guard spearheaded the Badgers’ second half comeback, scoring 19 of her 28 points in the second half and overtime. She also added seven rebounds, five assists and three blocks in the game.

Wisconsin’s guard play continues to dominate as Hilliard notched 21 points, marking her fifth game this season that she has scored 20 or more points. She also dished off a career-high 11 assists for the second double-double of her career.

 

The Badgers also got 13 points from Lewis, who shot 67 percent (6-9) from the field, and seven points from Moschkau, who went 4-4 from the free-throw line.

Straight from the court

Head coach Jonathan Tsipis
“Hats off to Minnesota, they made a lot of plays in overtime, but when you shoot 56.2 percent from the field you should win ball games. And you hold someone else to 38 (percent). But, obviously they stretched the floor and hit some huge threes.

“I’m proud of (our team). There were a lot of times where we’d get it down to one of two possessions and (Minnesota) would hit a big shot and they just kept pecking away. We had to do it with some unconventional lineups at times but they kept working. I thought the two plays to force overtime were huge. We got the shot we wanted, Sydney (Hilliard) created something for Imani (Lewis) and then obviously the stop.

“Still a lot of Big Ten basketball to play and we’ve got to get ready because obviously Northwestern is a very good team and we’re excited for another opportunity but we know that every single game in this league is going to be really difficult.”

Sydney Hilliard
“I like the effort at the end of the game. That’s what we wanted. But fixing the stuff in the first half, whether its turnovers or boxing out and getting rebounds we wouldn’t have been in that position. But I’m really proud of our effort.”

On what the comeback showed…
“It shows we have a lot of heart. We could have just given up in the second half towards the beginning, but we did a good job in the third quarter of cutting half the score down. I thought we fought hard until the end.”

Julie Pospisilova
On her aggressiveness…
“I think it’s really important for me to be aggressive on offense so we have more people to draw the defense in and they have to be more prepared to guard multiple players and not just one person.

“I learned that if I keep being aggressive eventually I’m going to get to the rim and score. It’s really good to have Sydney or other players who can distribute the ball and get me into position where I can score or I can also distribute the ball.”

Notes to know

• Sophomore Julie Pospisilova scored a career-high 28 points, the most points by a Badger this season. The 6-foot guard was 10-17 from the field, both career highs, including 5-8 from 3-point range, tying her career high for triples made. The Prague, Czech Republic native also shot and made career highs of 3-6 from the free-throw line. Pospisilova added seven rebounds, five assists, one steal and three blocks.
• Sophomore Sydney Hilliard recorded her second career double-double, scoring 21 points and adding a career-high 11 assists.  The 5-foot-11 guard shot 10-18 from the field while adding six rebounds and one steal.
• Wisconsin shot a season-high 58.2 percent (32-55), which just misses UW’s top-10 list. The Badgers also shot a season-high 53.3 percent (8-15) from 3-point range, their second time over 50 percent from deep this year.
• The Badgers were outrebounded for the second game in a row as Minnesota finished with a 39-36 edge.
• Senior Estella Moschkau tied a career high with two steals. She also shot career bests of 4-4 from the free-throw line and continues to be perfect from the charity stripe this season, going 9-9.
• Freshman Brooke Schramek dished off a career best two assists.

Up next
Wisconsin hosts No. 15 Northwestern on Wednesday at 3 p.m. from the Kohl Center in its first of four-straight games against ranked opponents. Tune into the game on Big Ten Network as well as U-100.9 FM radio.