B1G Game 10: Gophers Host Wisconsin (1-30-22)

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Ignatius L Hoops

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SUNDAY SHOWDOWN

A little over two weeks ago some of us (ok, me in particular) smirked at the hapless Badgers. After dropping a home game to Minnesota 66-81, Wisconsin was 0-5 in conference with double digit defeats in all five contests. Now, a little over two weeks and four games later, the Badgers and the Gophers are tied in the B1G standings with 2-7 records.

Minnesota is on a five-game losing skid and in real danger of stringing together what has become an annual seven-losses-in-eight-games conference losing streak. Meanwhile the Badgers have as much momentum as you can scrape together by defeating 0-9 Rutgers and 3-6 Penn State. The border rivals, not to mention their fans, kick off the second half of the season desperate for a dead of winter jump start.

THE BADGER FORTNIGHT

After falling to Minnesota at the Kohl Center, the Badgers traveled to Piscataway and delivered Marisa Moseley’s first Big Ten win 49-45. It was a typically “RAC Ugly” Rutgers’s game multiplied by a factor of 25 Scarlett Knight turnovers. Nevertheless, Wisconsin still required a 19-8 scoring edge in the fourth quarter to secure a win. After tying the game at 41 on a Julia Pospisilova jumper with 4:58 remaining, Wisconsin took advantage of Scarlett Knight turnovers and fouls to keep Rutgers winless in the Big Ten.

Moving on to Michigan, the Badgers were summarily bounced out of Ann Arbor 44-84 and back to Madison to face Penn State. Using a 25-17 third quarter advantage, the Badgers delivered Marisa Moseley’s first B1G home win 69-57. For the game, the Badgers had 11 steals while forcing 23 PSU turnovers. Just as notable, Wisconsin was 10-22 from three. All the scoring and most of the minutes came from the starting five. If the Badgers defeat the Gophers, the Wisconsin box score will probably look like the one from the Penn State game with, perhaps, a little more scoring from Hilliard:

Guard Katie Martin had 24 points and was 4-6 from three in 40 minutes.

Guard Julia Pospisilova had 23 points and was 2-6 from three in 39 minutes.

Guard Brooke Schramek had 13 points and was 3-5 from three in 38 minutes.

Guard Sydney Hilliard had 6 points, doesn’t shoot threes, and totaled 4 steals in 38 minutes.

Guard Halle Douglass had 4 points and was 1-3 from three in 34 minutes.

After defeating Penn State, Wisconsin visited the Huskers in Lincoln and were immediately set back on their heels by Alexi Markowski. The freshman post had 15 points and 8 rebounds in 18 minutes. Nebraska cruised to a 77-44 victory. The Badgers went 3-22 from three and looked worse.

BADGER UPDATE

Anyway, here are some Badger updates: Junior guard Julie Pospisilova remains the Badgers leading scorer and the only Badger in double figures in conference play. She’s also their volume three-point shooter despite a .268 % in Big play. Because of injury, Junior guard Sydney Hilliard, only played 9 minutes in the first meeting. Hilliard remains a shooting guard who still has not shot a three this season. She’s a also a terrible free throw shooter but she’s required to shoot them. Graduate transfer guard Katie Nelson remains a valuable addition to the lineup. Nelson is hitting .387 from behind the arc and the Penn State game shows that she can go on an occasional scoring run. Sophomore guard Brooke Schramck has been pressed into service as a post player and is averaging 8.1 points and a team leading 4.4 rebounds in conference play. Sophomore guard Halle Douglas has moved into the starting lineup. Junior center Sara Stapleton is still from Blaine; but is now coming off the bench. Freshman guard, Krystyna Ellew is averaging 6.9 points in 16.3 minutes per game. And if we must worry about Ellew, we are in real trouble.

WISCONSIN B1G RECORD (2-7):

Wins: @ Rutgers 49-45 and Penn State 69-57

Losses: @ Northwestern 49-61, Michigan 81-93, Indiana 53-76 and Illinois 47-68, Minnesota 66-82, @ Michigan 44-83 and Nebraska 44-77



Julie Pospisilova Last Six Games:

TeamPtsRebAsstMinFoul
Illinois1431393
Minnesota1854374
Rutgers1332382
Michigan720321
Penn State2323392
Nebraska1260342


Sydney Hilliard Last Six Games:

TeamPtsRebAsstMinFoul
IllinoisDNP
Minnesota03190
Rutgers1361391
Michigan1335352
Penn State654383
Nebraska1660321


Probable Starters Big Ten Stats:

HGTPOSYRPLAYERMINAVGREB
6’0”GJrJulie Popisilova35.615.03.8
5’11”GJrSydney Hilliard32.19.34.1
6’0”GSoBrooke Schramek27.48.14.1
5’9”GGSKatie Nelson32.46.93.4
6’1”GSoHalle Douglas26.85.23.6


Others Big Ten Stats:

HGTPOSYRPLAYERMINAVGREB
5’10”GFrKrystyna Ellew16.36.92.2
6’3”F/CJrSara Stapleton13.93.31.9
5’11”FJrTera Stauffacher11.01.81.1
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Defenders are absolutely sitting on sissoko trying to just drive to the right. She doesn't go left to make that a threat and she's not putting in a enough ball fakes or jab steps to get them off balance.
 

Ugly first quarter by both teams. Sissoko 2 TO’s already. Do not like the Gophers when they try reversed layups, rarely works for them
 

We have gotten alot of really good looks but need to start making them. We're a better team with LBK on the court over Kadi right now, need to find some ways to get Kadi some easy looks and build some confidence.
 


Good thing we had the lead going into the 1/2. Now we have to survive the 3rd quarter.
 



Was Kadi wiping away tears at the end?
 






Exciting game. Excellent effort. Much better defense. Good team work. Some quirky happenings. The seniors stepped up and gave the team some stability. It looked like they had fun and reveled in the win. Maybe, they can build on it. Go Gophers!
 



gwbbfan82 said:
I think she was losing grip on the ball. She had an embarrassed look and went to the sideline wipe her hands.
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Yes. The bench flipped her a towel. It was good comedy for Gopher fans. I mean Hilliard is a terrible free shooter; but this was going above and beyond.

The other bit of comedy was Moseley repeatedly telling players stay on their fee. She had some frustrating moments.
 

Several positive things to note today. They won. Decent sized crowd. They won the third quarter. Hubbard was hitting 3s. Winters made several needed defensive moves/blocks. And they appeared to play hard the entire game.
 


Diva might have had her best game of the season..

10 points
9 rebounds
7 assists
1 steal
0 TO's in 35 minutes

Sara also had her most rebounds (7) the most she has had since the Rutgers win when she had 9.
 

Hubbard should have been credited with a 10th rebound (she got it on the goofy free throw miss, but the refs stopped the play)
 



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