MADISON – This is rare air for the Wisconsin women’s basketball team.
The Badgers upset No. 24 Nebraska on Wednesday, Jan. 21 at the Kohl Center. Combine the 63-60 victory with UW’s 14-point win over then-No. 20 Michigan State on Dec. 7 and it marks the first time since the 2009-10 season the Badgers have two victories over ranked teams in a season. UW, which improved to 13-7 overall, is 5-4 in the Big Ten, its best since 2010-11.
The victory was also Wisconsin’s second straight Quad 1 win and third of the season. It is now 3-3 in those matchups.
The game was another example of UW picking itself off the mat and continuing to compete despite adverse circumstances. This time it overcame a rough third quarter when it was forced into nine turnovers that allowed Nebraska to erase a 13-point halftime deficit and lead by two heading into the fourth quarter.
“Just really proud of the resiliency of our team,” Badgers coach Robin Pingeton said. “I think coming off a big win and short turnaround against a really good, talented Nebraska team that had a week to prepare for us, I just felt like we really answered the call.”
While the Badgers didn’t protect the ball well, they owned a plus-19 edge on the boards that included 14 offensive rebounds and held Nebraska to season lows in field goal percentage (.371) and 3-point percentage (.231). The Cornhuskers (14-5, 3-5) went scoreless on its final four possessions.
Gift Uchenna was also a difference maker. The UW senior finished with a season-high 22 points on 10-for-17 shooting and grabbed 14 rebounds, nine off the offensive glass. It was her third double-double of the season.
Junior guard Kyrah Daniels added 19 points and eight rebounds. Nine of her points came during the final 6 ½ minutes. She had six during the final 3:06, including a deep 3 to tie the game, 60-60, with 1:54 to go.
The Badgers closed the night with a 6-0 run and improved to 11-1 at home.
“I think when we lost the third quarter, 22-7, and we could have easily just folded and gave them a win on our home court, but this is our home court and we’re not just going to lay over and let anybody take the dub on our court,” senior guard Ronnie Porter said. “We’re going to fight back and we’re going to do it as one and I think that’s what we did tonight.”
Here are three takeaways from the game:
Destiny Howell goes scoreless but stays locked in
Destiny Howell, a 6-foot grad student who entered play averaging a team-best 14.5 points per game, scored 39 points against Oregon. That was the third-highest single-game total in program history. Wednesday, she went 0 for 7 from the floor and didn’t score a point.
The New York native also had a frustrating day with the officials as she was hit with four fouls that limited her playing time to 21 minutes and 19 seconds, her lowest in Big Ten play.
But credit her for shaking all that off during the final seconds. It was her block and rebound of senior Callin Hake’s 3 from the top of the key yhat sealed the win.
“Thirty-nine to zero, that’s not something easy to overcome, but she’s a team player and she put us before herself,” Porter said.
Gift Uchenna shows mettle after tough shooting day
Uchenna’s best offensive day as a Badger came right after she struggled most of the game against Oregon. The 6-3 forward went 5 for 14 from the floor against the Ducks, missing badly on some of her attempts.
The performance stuck with her against Nebraska and she used the added edge to jump start the Badgers. She had 10 of the team’s first 17 points and in the first quarter had six second-chance points.
She was also a closer. With 53 seconds to go, she caught an inbounds pass near the UW bench and used three dribbles to get to the basket for the points that gave Wisconsin its final margin of victory.
Her quickness and agility showed.
“After the last game, I couldn’t sleep,” she said. “I couldn’t forgive myself for missing so many baskets and I was like, ’I’ve got to let it go and just focus on the next game.’
“I told myself that I’m going to play with pace today, I’m going to play with patience today.”
Wisconsin must handle ball pressure better
Given how the Badgers controlled the boards and the job they did on defense, it can be argued that they should have won by more.
Turnovers prevented that. UW had 22, 14 in the second half when the team struggled to get their offensive set started.
Nebraska trailed by 13 at the first half and its desperation to get back into the game showed in how it defended. Wisconsin fought through those struggles, but future opponents probably took note and at some point the team be tested again in that regard.
“I mean, it was some ugly basketball there for a while,” Pingeton said. “We looked exhausted, we got sped up, but their ability to recalibrate, recenter, and refocus and move on to that next play speed, I think is really important and I thought they did a tremendous job of that.”
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Wisconsin women’s basketball beats No. 24 Nebraska. 3 takeaways from the upset
Reporting by Mark Stewart, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel / Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
