MADISON – Michigan State is an in-your face team that puts such pressure on the ball that it is one of the nation’s best at forcing steals and creating turnovers.
The Wisconsin women’s basketball team matched that aggression and then some Sunday, Dec. 7.
Sparked by near triple doubles by seniors Gift Uchenna and Ronnie Porter, the Badgers upset the No. 20 Spartans in front of 3,039 at the Kohl Center for the program’s first win over a ranked opponent since a 78-70 win over No. 12 Michigan Feb. 26, 2023.
“I thought they played with a lot of poise, a lot of discipline, and that’s what we knew it was going to take to win,” Badgers coach Robin Pingeton said.
Uchenna, a 6-foot-3 forward, had 14 points, 15 rebounds and seven blocks in 27 minutes. Porter, a 5-2 point guard, posted 12 points, 11 boards and eight assists in 33 minutes. She turned it over once.
Wisconsin also did the job on defense. Michigan State (8-1) entered play ranked second in the nation in scoring at 96.4 points per game and third in field goal percentage (.539) but finished with season lows for scoring and field goal percentage (.381).
The Spartans played without senior guard Theryn Hallock, who is out with a lower leg injury. Nonethless the performance served a strong bounce-back for the Badgers from losses to No. 13 Mississippi and James Madison at the Daytona Beach Classic Nov. 28-29.
Here are three takeaway from the game.
Gift Uchenna ‘laid the hammer,’ ties career high for blocks
Uchenna hit six of 12 shots, grabbed four offensive rebounds and drew a team-high four fouls. Her greatest accomplishment was setting the tone for the Badgers on both ends of the floor.
She scored the Badgers’ first bucket of the day and then seconds later blocked the shot of Grace VanSlooten, a 6-3 senior who entered play averaging a team-high 15.8 points per game.
The exchange was symbolic of the edge with which Uchenna played on both ends of the floor. She attacked defenders in the post and had little problem creating space for shot with a couple of dribbles.
On the other end she tied a career-high for blocks she set last season at Southern Illinois.
“I think the most thing that excited me today was my block,” she said. “I know that I’m always going to go for that rebound. But just being able to help my teammates and defend well and just block those balls, just excites me.
“And I played with my pace today because I’ve been working all week, my patience and pace.”
“And I second that,” Porter added “She’s a great listener. She followed everything, coaches, teammates (told her). … She was the aggressor today, and she laid the hammer.”
Ronnie Porter, Badgers were strong with the ball
While Porter’s minutes this season are down by about 7 ½ this season, she has gone over 30 minutes in two of the last three games.
Sunday she played 33 minutes 27 seconds, her high for regulation game this season. The Badgers needed her on the floor, especially in the second half, when Michigan State, which had trailed by seven at the half, cranked up its defensive intensity.
The ball-handing and decision making were strong among UW’s primary ball-handlers. Junior guards Breauna Ware (eight points) and Kyrah Daniels (14 points) had one turnover each. The only one with more, senior Destiny Howell (three), made up for the mistakes by helping set the tone for the victory with nine of her 13 points in the first half.
“It was being the hammer, not the nail, not settling (because) they’ve got great pressure,” Porter said. “We know they’re a great team, but so are we. So we pointed to our capabilities and our strengths and that’s what we did and how we were able to break the press.
“They got us a few times, but we just looked you to a next play mentality and I think we carried that really good today.”
A couple of other points on Porter’s game. Her eight assists led to seven 3-pointers and 23 points overall points and her four offensive rebounds led to four second-chance points for herself.
UW’s mettle passes test in fourth quarter
Michigan State trailed by as many 12 points in the third quarter, but it trimmed that deficit to four at the end of three quarters and had it down to three, 61-58, with 6:44 to play.
Wisconsin responded with a 12-2 run that pushed its lead to 13 with 2:26 to go. Howell and Daniels hit 3s during that run, but no Badgers had more than one basket during that stretch.
Michigan State led for only 27 seconds and that came late in the first quarter.
“I think once we went up, we wanted to stay up,” Porter said. “That [27] seconds, we didn’t really want that to happen, but just staying together and not getting too comfortable with everything, I think that’s why we led the whole game. It was just a team effort.”
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Wisconsin upsets No. 20 Michigan State in Big Ten women’s basketball opener
Reporting by Mark Stewart, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel / Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
