Wisconsin women’s basketball: Badgers blown out 92-49 by No. 16 Michigan

Facing their first ranked team of the season, the Wisconsin Badgers (0-3 Big Ten, 3-3 overall) struggled mightily against the undefeated No. 16 Michigan Wolverines (1-0, 6-0) as they lost 92-49 on the road in Ann Arbor, Mich.

The Wolverines dominated the Badgers defensively, as Wisconsin failed to have a double-digit scorer for the first time this season. Sophomore guard Syndey Hilliard, junior forward Imani Lewis and freshman guard Brooke Schramek, who played her first game since Dec. 5, all scored nine points.

UW struggled shooting in a game that out of hand after the first quarter. After four minutes, the Badgers were only down 8-7, then the Wolverines went on a 21-8 run the rest of the quarter, taking a 29-15 lead and never looked back.

In every statistical category, Michigan beat Wisconsin. Wolverines shot 52 percent from the field, Badgers hit only 30 percent. Michigan had 50 rebounds, Wisconsin only 29. Michigan forced 13 turnovers, Wisconsin only 10. It goes on and on.

Individually, the Wolverines had four players reach double figures. Junior forward Leigha Brown led the way with 26 points while junior forward Naz Hillmon had 22 points and 11 rebounds for a double double.

After two more promising showings against Big Ten foes like Iowa and Rutgers, head coach Jonathan Tsipis felt this performance was a “good representation of who we are as a team.” Tsipis credited the Wolverines’ defense and experience as the biggest difference.

“It forced us to try to make too many plays on a one-to-one setting,” Tsipis said. “I think as a group, we know that this hasn’t been our best day basketball wise. We had a lot of people who were unsure of themselves and I attribute that to Michigan’s defense.”

Wisconsin will look to bounce back and earn their first Big Ten win of the season Sunday Jan. 3 as they’ll host the Minnesota Golden Gophers (0-3, 1-4).