UW women's basketball: Badgers bow out of WNIT
Villanova's outside shooting sinks UW
University of Wisconsin women's basketball coach Lisa Stone said Saturday night that it was hard to watch the NCAA tournament knowing the Badgers won't be playing in the big dance.
It'll be equally tough for Stone and her squad to follow the rest of the Women's National Invitation Tournament, now that they're no longer a part of that soiree either.
UW's season came to an ignominious end at the Field House Saturday, as Villanova bounced the Badgers from the WNIT with a 60-54 victory in a second-round matchup before a crowd of 1,382.
The loss --Wisconsin's first at home in four trips to the WNIT -- finished off a disappointing season that began with the Badgers ranked in the top 25, coming off last year's run to the WNIT title game.
It also concluded the brilliant career of senior Jolene Anderson, the program's all-time leading scorer, and fellow four-year seniors Janese Banks and Danielle Ward.
"It hasn't sunk in yet, but I'm sure it will soon," a composed Anderson said after the game. "I'm going to walk away with a lot of memories and no regrets."
Anderson had 21 points, seven rebounds and seven assists in her final game in a UW uniform, moving her into fourth place in Big Ten history with 2,312 points. But she was 0-for-5 on 3-pointers -- just the sixth time all season she was blanked from beyond the arc. All but one were Badger losses.
It was long-range shooting that made the difference Saturday night. Villanova (17-15) knocked down 11-of-21 from 3-point land, including 7-of-9 in the second half.
Seven different players hit treys for the Wildcats.
"Our whole game is predicated on trading threes for twos," said Villanova associate head coach Joe Mullaney, who ran the team in place of absent head coach Harry Perretta. "When you make shots, it looks great. … We made good decisions making the extra pass to get the open person a three."
The Wildcats, who set an NCAA record for made 3-pointers this season and average nearly 10 per game, hit a pair of treys on their first two possessions of the second half to take their first lead of the game.
Villanova knocked down back-to-back 3-pointers again to extinguish the Badgers' final lead with 8 minutes, 32 seconds left. Laura Kurz and Maria Getty sank spot-up jumpers to give Villanova a 43-42 lead.
After Wisconsin (16-14) tied the game at 45 on a Tara Steinbauer putback, Briana Weiss nailed one of her three 3s to put the Wildcats on top for good.
"I thought we had a great game plan," said Badgers coach Lisa Stone, whose team had a first-round bye but had not played since March 6. "They got hot. … We lost them a couple of times, and they make you pay."
The Badgers led most of the first half, getting out in front by as many as seven points when Mariah Dunham sank one of her two 3-pointers to make it 18-11. The sophomore forward finished with eight points.
Banks, who was recognized prior to the game for scoring her 1,000th career point earlier in the season, finished the game with just one point and one assist.
"I thought the key for us was Janese Banks never really got on track offensively tonight," Mullaney said. "And they didn't kill us inside. They had a size advantage, but we played pretty smart team defense."
Ward had only two points and four rebounds. Steinbauer added eight points for the Badgers, as Anderson was the only player in double figures. She was also UW's only player with more than four rebounds and more than one assist.
"I thought Jolene had a tremendous floor game," Stone said. "We just needed a little bit of help."
Jason McMahon
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University of Wisconsin seniors Jolene Anderson (left) and Janese Banks walk off the court at the Field House after the final game of their Badger career, a 60-54 loss to Villanova in the Women's National Invitation Tournament.
