Wisconsin women’s basketball: UW’s offensive struggles continue, as does losing streak

As the Wisconsin Badgers women’s basketball team goes through their toughest part on the schedule, the loses have piled up as the offense has struggled against some of the top teams in the country.

On Sunday, Wisconsin lost 74-49 to the No. 19 Indiana Hoosiers. The Badgers kept the game close for the first quarter, but the Hoosiers went on a 5-0 run to close the second quarter to extend the halftime lead to double digits and never looked back.

Although sophomore guard Sydney Hilliard had her sixth 20-point game of the season, the rest of UW struggled offensively. Wisconsin went 0-for-8 from the three point line and had 18 turnovers.

On Thursday, Wisconsin’s offense again struggled against a highly ranked No. 13 Michigan Wolverines team, 69-40.

The Wolverines finished the first quarter with a 23-11 lead and held it the rest of the way. No Badger finished in double digits — junior forward Imani Lewis led the team with nine points — and Wisconsin was held to just 29 percent shooting on the day. Michigan also dominated on the glass, grabbing 47 boards to Wisconsin’s 31.

The Badgers (0-7 Big Ten, 3-7 overall) are now on a five-game losing streak and are still winless in Big Ten play. Head coach Jonathan Tsipis said after the Michigan game that the team has to get a lot more work done in practice to get past these results.

“We’ve got to keep working each day,” Tsipis said. “We as coaches need to put them in better positions and with more confidence and defensively we need to continue to grow as a unit and be able to hold people to a lower field goal percentage and finish possessions by not letting people get on the glass.”

Wisconsin’s tough gauntlet of four ranked opponents in a row continues this Sunday, as they host the No. 9 Maryland Terrapins (6-1, 10-1 overall) at the Kohl Center.