Rutgers avoids a big time upset with a 63-55 win over a hungry Wisconsin squad. In game two of day two of the Big Ten Women’s Basketball Tournament the game could be separated into the first three quarters versus the final period. The 12th seeded Wisconsin Badgers came into the game with a 12-19 record coming off of a day 1 win over Illinois looking to upset the 5th seeded Rutgers Scarlet Knights.
During the first quarter the Lady Badgers controlled the tempo and pace with a 2-3 zone that limited Rutgers shots and kept the contest close. With the zone stalling the 5th seeded Scarlet Knights, Wisconsin ended the first tied at 13.
Quarter two was much of the same with Rutgers struggling to find offensive continuity against the stingy zone. Imani Lewis was extremely productive for Wisconsin scoring 13 of her 28 points at the half, while Arella Guirantes had 9 of Rutgers 28.
Virtually in a win or die situation for their season, Wisconsin made a push towards an upset. The tightly played game took a slight turn when the Lady Badgers went on a small 5-0 run to close out the third. With momentum and a 45-42 lead Wisconsin looked to seal the deal and a large upset.
In the fourth quarter the glass slipper fell off the foot of the Lady Badgers. The team couldn’t hit water if they had fallen out of a boat. After shooting at least 50% from the field in the first 3 quarters, Wisconsin shot an abysmal 20% (3-15) in the fourth. Defensive adjustments from Rutgers coach C. Vivian Stringer seemed to be the key to a dominant finish from the Scarlet Knights.
“Well, first of all, Wisconsin was well prepared, and it was a scary situation simply because when you play a team three times, and they’ve had very close games to the top teams within the Big Ten, so we were nervous” said Stringer.
“And what happened at the beginning is that we weren’t nearly as impressive as we needed to be, but we did know that we had to step it up, which is extremely taxing, but the team willed themselves to win, and it worked out for us.”
Next up for the Scarlet Knights is the number 4 seeded Indiana Hoosiers Friday at 3 p.m. Winner of the matchup advances to Saturday night’s semifinal.