Wisconsin women's basketball beats Rutgers in the team's largest victory since 2017
MADISON – Marisa Moseley wasted no time praising her team Monday night.
“I just told my team that is the most complete game that we’ve played in the two years that I’ve been here,” the Wisconsin Badgers women’s basketball coach said. “I’m just really proud of how we shared the ball. I’m really proud of our defensive effort . All in each I felt each quarter, even if Rutgers went on a run we were able to sustain that.”
The Badgers scored an 88-62 win over Rutgers in front of 3,201 at the Kohl Center to post the team’s largest margin of victory over a Big Ten opponent since an 82-56 win over Nebraska Feb. 9, 2017. The victory was raised UW’s record to 9-19, one more win than last season, and 4-12 in the Big Ten.
Rutgers dropped to 11-16 and 5-10.
Box score:Wisconsin 88, Rutgers 62
The outcome was quite the switch from the teams’ meeting on Feb. 5 when Rutgers outplayed Wisconsin in the fourth quarter to score a 73-67 victory. This time the Badgers did a much better job protecting the ball, limited the Scarlet Knights’ fast-break points and finished with 20 assists, their third-highest total of the season.
Wisconsin also had its best shooting day against a Big Ten opponent this season. The Badgers shot 56.4% overall (31 of 55) and hit 52.4% (11 for 21) from three-point range.
The team’s five starters scored in double figures and in general stuffed the stat sheet.
Freshman Serah Williams posted 21 points, eight rebounds and three blocks. Senior Julie Pospisilova recorded 17 points, seven rebounds, six assists, three steals and two blocks. Senior Avery LaBarbera totaled 16 points on 6-for-10 shooting and made six assists and three steals. Freshman Maty Wilke added 14 points and was 4 for 7 from three-point range, while junior Brooke Schramek finished with 11 points, four assists, two steals and two blocks.
With the win an air of relief could be felt from a team that has taken its lump against the big dogs of the Big Ten and by close losses teams in the bottom half of the standings like Penn State, Northwestern and Rutgers.
“(Coach) said to us in the locker room after, ‘Yes we made mistakes, yes we had turnovers and missed shots, but no one had that feeling of defeat," LaBarbera said. "I think that has been the theme of the season. When we mess up we’re like, ‘Ugh’, but today we were really confident. We believed we were going to win.”
Wisconsin didn’t trail during the final 38 minutes. The team strung together nine straight points during the first quarter to take a 12-point lead and owned a 46-35 advantage at the half.
When the lead dipped to seven points three minutes into the second half Moseley called timeout and out of that break the Badgers heated up. UW made seven of it final nine shots of the quarter and led, 69-46, heading into the fourth quarter.
The Badgers closed out the night by shooting 75% (6 for 8) in the fourth quarter.
“I think today we felt like we had to play a complete game,” Williams said. “We said over and over ‘Let’s finish the game. Let’s close the game.'”
More:Sharp-shooting Avery LaBarbera proves her worth for Wisconsin women's basketball
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This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Wisconsin women's basketball beats Rutgers in largest win since 2017
