Ignatius L Hoops
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FIFTY FOUR!
Not: “Fifty Four Forty and Fight!”.
More Like “Fifty Four and No Fight!”
Not: “Fifty Four Forty and Fight!”.
More Like “Fifty Four and No Fight!”
The Rutgers “55” is a more fearsome pair of digits; but 54 was terror enough for Gopher fans a few games back. That’s the number of paint points Wisconsin racked up defeating Minnesota in Minneapolis 72-62. The game wasn’t all Badgers. Minnesota led 37-34 at the half and, with 5:18 remaining in the third, a Jasmine Brunson jumper tied the game at 45. Then Laszewski, Stauffacher, Hilliard and Lewis scored on consecutive layups giving the Badgers a 53-45 lead heading into the third quarter. The Gophers never recovered.
While “Fifty Four!” isn’t much of a rallying cry it will provide service as a reminder. Post game Whalen said, “In Big Ten play they averaged 31 points per game [in the paint], and our goal was to keep them to 27, but they got 54”. When you miss your goal by 100%, it’s likely “54” will be revisited again and again.
For Wisconsin, forward Imani Lewis posted 23 points and 16 rebounds. Her fellow forward, Abby Laszewski, contributed 12 points and 7 rebounds. Minnesota was led in scoring by Hubbard and Brunson with 12 each. Jasmine Powell contributed 11 points with Sara Scalia the other Gopher in double figures with 10. Taiye Bello scored 9 points and grabbed 13 rebounds in 31 minutes.
Side Note: Points in the paint during B1G season:
| PSU | OSU | NEB | NW | ILL | IW | PUR | WIS | IU | NEB | Rut | |
| MIN | 30 | 26 | 32 | 20 | 30 | 32 | 32 | 30 | 20 | 22 | 22 |
| OPP | 38 | 36 | 28 | 24 | 38 | 32 | 24 | 54 | 26 | 42 | 34 |
I’m looking for Taiye Bello being assigned to guard Lewis early on. Last game I think Taiye spent most of her time on Laszewski giving Lewis free rein for too long.
A Close Loss in Madison:
Jonathan Tsipis called the win over Minnesota “Huge” for the program. And the Badgers are playing better even if the only trophy for their recent efforts is Goldy’s spinning head. Following the win at Williams Arena, they welcomed Nebraska to Madison. The Huskers escaped with a 72-71 victory despite Wisconsin leading 57-47 heading into the fourth quarter.
By the 5:29 mark, Nebraska recovered to tie it at 61. Imani Lewis, hitting her only three point attempt of the season, gave the Badgers a 68-67 lead; but Nebraska answered with a three and a couple of free throws to seal the win. Lewis paced Wisconsin with 21 points and 6 rebounds and was joined by Laszewski with 14 points and 9 rebounds. Suzanne Gilreath did her part with 11 points (3-5 from three) in 14 minutes.
A Close Loss in Bloomington:
Wisconsin opened the contest on a 20-4 run and the Hoosiers spent the night battling to stay relevant. A slow IU comeback received a boost at 2:55 of the fourth quarter when Laszewski fouled Mackenzie Holmes for a three point play tightening the score to 58-53. Just as important, it was Laszewski’s fifth foul and she left the game with 8 points in 27 minutes.
The IU comeback was completed when Jaelynn Penn nailed a game tying three making it 61 all with 14 seconds remaining. In the OT, the Hoosiers jumped out 8-0 and eased home. Indiana finished with a 37-17 run in the fourth quarter and overtime. Lewis was held to 10 points; although freshman guard Sydney Hilliard filled some of the slack with a game high 23 points and freshman guard Julie Popisilova added 10 points and 5 rebounds.
A Win in Champaign:
Compared to Minnesota coming off a hard fought, two overtime victory, Wisconsin should be well rested following a 73-64 win at Illinois. A 25-11 advantage in the second quarter helped the Badgers to a 37-25 half-time lead. Wisconsin never looked back. Points in the paint? Wisconsin 38 and Illinois 18. If the Illini can hold the Badgers to 38 paint points…
The Badger Starting Posts-Lewis and Laszewski:
Imani Lewis: Here are her last six games:
| Team | Pts | Reb | Asst | Min | Foul | ||||
| Michigan | 17 | 6 | 1 | 34 | 1 | ||||
| Iowa | 18 | 9 | 0 | 36 | 3 | ||||
| Minnesota | 23 | 16 | 2 | 34 | 3 | ||||
| Nebraska | 21 | 6 | 2 | 36 | 2 | ||||
| Indiana | 10 | 7 | 1 | 32 | 4 | ||||
| Illinois | 11 | 3 | 1 | 24 | 2 |
Abby Laszewski: Here are her last six games:
| Team | Pts | Reb | Asst | Min | Foul | ||||
| Michigan | 6 | 3 | 0 | 29 | 4 | ||||
| Iowa | 14 | 12 | 0 | 36 | 1 | ||||
| Minnesota | 12 | 7 | 1 | 33 | 2 | ||||
| Nebraska | 14 | 9 | 1 | 27 | 4 | ||||
| Indiana | 8 | 5 | 1 | 27 | 5 | ||||
| Illinois | 16 | 7 | 0 | 27 | 1 |
B1G Wins: Penn State 71-65, @ Minnesota 72-62, Illiniois 73-64
B1G Losses: Rutgers 61-64, @ Purdue 61-72, @ Nebraska 50-65, @ Michigan State 52-69, Michigan 52-69, Iowa 78-85, Nebraska 71-72, @ Indiana 65-75.
Probable Starters (B1G Stats):
| HGT | POS | YR | PLAYER | MIN | AVG | REB |
| 6’1” | F | So | Imani Lewis | 33.0 | 17.3 | 10.1 |
| 6’3” | F | Sr | Abby Laszewski | 30.0 | 11.3 | 6.6 |
| 5’11” | G | Fr | Sydney Hilliard | 30.1 | 9.7 | 4.5 |
| 5’7” | G | Jr | Niya Beverly | 31.7 | 9.1 | 2.4 |
| 5’10” | G | Sr | Kendra Vanleeuwen | 28.1 | 5.3 | 3.6 |
Bench (B1G Stats):
| HGT | POS | YR | PLAYER | MIN | AVG | REB |
| 5’4” | G | Sr | Suzanne Gilreath | 12.1 | 4.7 | 0.8 |
| 6’0” | G | Fr | Julie Popisilova | 18.0 | 3.6 | 2.1 |
| 5’11” | F | Fr | Tara Stauffacher | 10.8 | 2.0 | 1.0 |
| 6’3” | F/C | Fr | Sara Stapleton | 6.5 | 1.8 | 2.0 |
| 6’2” | G | RSo | Alex Luehring | 2.3 | 0.7 | 0.0 |
