Gant’s career day evens Border Battle with 62-52 UW win

MADISON, Wis. Dec. 29, 2008 Three Badgers scored in double figures and junior guard Teah Gant had a career-high 17 points to help the Wisconsin women's basketball team win its lone meeting against border rival, Minnesota, 62-52 in front of a season-high Kohl Center audience of 6,045. The win gives the Badgers their first of the Big Ten Conference season as they improve to 11-2 overall, 1-1 in the league. Minnesota drops to 8-4 and 0-1 in the conference. The win is also significant for the fifth annual Border Battle as the Badgers add 40 points to Wisconsin's tally to even the series at 140 points. COMPLETE POST-GAME COVERAGE: Links available here: http://www.uwbadgers.com/sport_news/wbb/headlines/story.html?sportid=135&storyid=16221 * Final Box Score * Wisconsin cumulative stats * Wisconsin cumulative stats in Big Ten games * UW head coach Lisa Stone quotes * Minnesota head coach Pam Borton quotes * Courtside Blog * Post-game notes Gant had a career night with 17 points, 11 of which came from the charity stripe. The 5-10 guard went 11-of-12 from the free throw line as her first and only miss came with 32 seconds left in the game. She also grabbed a team-best seven rebounds and stole the ball twice. Sophomore guard Alyssa Karel led all scorers with 19 points and junior forward Mariah Dunham chipped in 12 points and five of the team's nine blocks. Karel went 3-of-5 from 3-point range. Wisconsin finished 19-of-42 for 45.2 percent from the field and finished 5-of-12 from 3-point range for 41.7 percent. Ashley Ellis-Milan led Minnesota with 13 points while the Gophers' leading scorer Emily Fox was limited to a season-low two points on 1-of-14 shooting in 29 minutes. Minnesota shot just 17-of-57 for 29.8 percent and was 4-of-14 for 28.6 percent from 3-point range. The Gophers had the slight 36-35 edge on the boards and 15 of their rebounds were from the offensive glass. Ellis-Milan led all players with eight rebounds while Gant and junior guard Rae Lin D'Alie grabbed seven each. The Badgers had the 11-10 advantage on assists and sophomore forward Lin Zastrow tied a career high with four assists. After turning the ball over 11 times in the first half, Wisconsin finished with 19 for the game while Minnesota turned the ball over 14 times. The Gophers capitalized on 17 points off turnovers. The first half was a game of runs. Wisconsin had the first one, opening up a 5-0 lead but Minnesota quickly responded with an 18-0 run of its own. The Gophers went 3-of-3 from 3-point range during the stretch. The Badgers were held scoreless for more than six minutes and turned the ball over seven times during that stretch. The Badgers then did their part, holding Minnesota scoreless for just over five minutes and used a 10-0 run to pull within three points (18-15) with 9:17 left in the first half. Karel hit two 3-pointers during the stretch while Gant and Dunham also contributed buckets. Minnesota's regained a seven-point lead (22-15) but the Badgers kept inching back in until they took over the lead at 29-27 following two free throws from Gant. The Badgers maintained their momentum and took the 31-27 lead into halftime. After the Gophers went on their 18-0 run, the Badgers outscored them 26-9 to end the half. Wisconsin finished the first half 10-of-22 for 45.5 percent while Minnesota went 9-of-25 for 36.0 percent. Despite turning the ball over seven times during that six minute stretch, Wisconsin finished with 11 turnovers for the half. The score stayed tight during the first part of the second half and Wisconsin maintained the lead until a layup by Ellis-Milan put the score at 41-40, giving the Gophers their first lead since late in the first half. The Badgers re-gained the lead though after a layup by Tara Steinbauer put the score at 42-41 with 13:28 remaining. Wisconsin worked its way to a five-point lead (51-46) with 7:51 left. Gant helped the Badgers pull ahead by converting on 4-of-4 free throw attempts and Karel also added a bucket. The Gophers pulled within one point after Ellis-Milan went one-of-two from the free throw line with 4:31 remaining in the game. Dunham nailed a 3-pointer as the shotclock wound down to give Wisconsin another four-point advantage with 4:04 left. Minnesota cut it to two at 54-52 after a layup by Zoe Harper with 3:35 left but solid play by Gant, including her ninth and 10th free throws combined with four missed Gopher field goals down the stretch gave the Badgers their biggest lead of the game at that point (60-52) with 1:16 left. Minnesota was held scoreless for the final 3:35 of the game and the Badgers made 2-of-4 free throws in the final minute to hang on for the win. Wisconsin returns to conference action New Year's Day (Thursday) when it faces Illinois. Tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m. in Champaign, Ill.