UW women's basketball: Senior Day loss to Iowa damages NCAA tournament hopes
The Senior Day tributes lacked luster for the veterans of the University of Wisconsin women's basketball team.
Jolene Anderson, Janese Banks and Danielle Ward carved out their careers on the Kohl Center court, but moments after UW's 87-78 loss to Iowa, the trio watched senior standouts Johanna Solverson and Kristi Smith celebrate the Hawkeyes' piece of the Big Ten Conference title at center court with a handful of ecstatic teammates.
So while they appreciated the sentiment, a post-game video presentation failed to offer compelling viewing for Banks and Anderson.
"It was tough to watch because you feel like there's nothing really to celebrate," Banks said.
The Badgers have mustered through many challenges this season. But after having their five-game winning streak snapped, and missing out on what would have been a signature win, they face a huge hurdle if they are to obtain their goal of earning the program's first NCAA tournament bid since 2002.
To get there, Wisconsin almost assuredly must win the Big Ten tournament and the accompanying automatic bid. That means four straight victories starting Thursday, when the eighth-seeded Badgers (16-12, 9-9) play ninth-seeded Illinois (16-13, 8-10) at 4 p.m. in a first-round game at Conseco Fieldhouse in Indianapolis. The Badgers and Illini split their two-game series this season. The winner draws top-seeded Ohio State in a semifinal on Friday.
Banks, for one, remains confident that UW can make its mark -- so long as it doesn't dig itself holes like the early deficit it faced Sunday against the Hawkeyes and this past Thursday, when it rallied to win at Michigan.
"I think we don't want to keep fighting back from 20 down, I can certainly say that," Banks said. "We just have to know that Big Ten title is anybody's to win and our name is in the mix, and there's no team that we fear playing in the tournament."
Iowa (20-9, 13-5) built a 20-point cushion midway through the first half, courtesy of back-to-back 3-pointers by Solverson. The second, from the left wing, gave the Hawkeyes a 27-7 lead with 9 minutes, 33 seconds left.
Solverson, a 6-foot-2 forward, scored 23 of her career-high 31 points in the first half alone on 10-of-12 shooting as Iowa shot a blistering 73.9 percent from the field (17-of-23) and held a 41-30 lead at the break.
The Badgers showed their mettle and battled back in the second half. They came within three points on seven occasions, within two points five times and one point with 4:32 to go after Banks nailed two free throws to pull UW within 69-68.
But Wendy Ausdemore hit a big 3-pointer with 2:21 to play to put Iowa ahead 72-68. It was her only basket of the game, and the UW never got closer than three points the rest of the way. Iowa claimed a share of the league title with Ohio State, the fifth title in program history but first since 1998.
UW coach Lisa Stone wanted the Badgers to prevent the Hawkeyes from getting into a shooting rhythm early. As the Badgers failed to get defensive stops and rushed their shots, Stone said she didn't anticipate Solverson would go off in the manner which she did.
"It was kind of a one-woman wrecking crew in the first half, and one player, I don't think, can beat you," Stone said of the sixth-year senior, who tore the anterior cruciate ligament in her right knee twice during her Hawkeyes career. "But they got some early rhythm and that took us out."
Anderson, who scored a career-high 42 points in UW's double-overtime setback at Iowa in mid-January, was limited to 10 points on 4-of-19 shooting and missed all five of her 3-point tries.
Iowa coach Lisa Bluder said her team did a good job of being aware of where Anderson was on the court. The senior guard is the Big Ten's scoring leader, having entered Sunday at 20.3 points per game.
"She schooled us the first time we played them and that was a little embarrassing," Bluder said. "We wanted to make sure that she didn't have another career night against us. So I think more than anything, we worked hard in our denial, hard on our pressure when she got the ball, but more than anything it was an awareness of her on the floor."
But the Hawkeyes weren't as cognizant of the threats posed by forward Lin Zastrow and guard Alyssa Karel, freshmen who had strong efforts coming off the bench. Zastrow scored a team-high 17 points on 7-of-9 shooting, while Karel added 15 on 6-of-6 shooting.
With the regular season behind them, the Badgers now need to concentrate on the task at hand with preparation for the Big Ten tournament. They reached the quarterfinals last season, losing to Purdue by three points.
And Anderson, much like Banks, said the Badgers will be ready for any challenges thrown their way.
"(The Iowa loss) shouldn't affect us anyway," Anderson said. "The Big Ten tournament is just another season, really. Everybody is going to start off from square one. We just have a lot of work to do.
"I think our team, right now, is determined (against) anybody who we play, and we've just got to put our mind to it."
By the numbers
41 -- Points by four UW bench players in the loss to the Hawkeyes. Zastrow led all Badgers scorers with 17 points.
51 -- Combined points by Iowa's Solverson (31) and senior guard Kristi Smith (20).
42-25 -- Advantage in rebounds by the Hawkeyes marked only the fourth time this season the Badgers were outrebounded by an opponent.
3 -- All UW freshmen -- Zastrow, Karel and forward Tara Steinbauer -- scored in double figures. Steinbauer had 10 points, including 7-of-8 free throws.
13,320 -- The announced attendance at the Kohl Center was a season high and the seventh-largest in program history.
9-9 -- Badgers' Big Ten mark is the first record at .500 during coach Lisa Stone's five-year tenure at UW.
Michelle Stocker/The Capital Times
Iowa's Johanna Solverson (34) tries to get by Wisconsin's Jolene Anderson (41) during their basketball game on Sunday.
