Iowa 73, Wisconsin 63

Post-Game Notes Iowa beat Wisconsin tonight, 73-63, at the Kohl Center.  Iowa improves to 8-4 overall and 1-0 in the Big Ten, while Wisconsin falls to 10-2 overall and 0-1 in conference play.  The Hawkeyes have now won four-straight games, while Iowa snapped the Badgers' 10-game winning streak.  Additionally, tonight was Wisconsin's first home loss of the year (6-1).   Iowa improves to 34-20 all-time against Wisconsin.  The Black and Gold have now won 10 of the last 12 in the series.  The Hawkeyes are now 14-11 in Madison and have won six of the last seven contests played at the Kohl Center.    Tonight was both teams' Big Ten opener.  Iowa improves to 7-2 in Big Ten openers under Head Coach Lisa Bluder.   Tonight was Wisconsin's first game in eight days.  Tonight was Iowa's second road game in three days.  Furthermore, Iowa is in the middle of a stretch of playing four of five away from Iowa City.   Wendy Ausdemore had another stellar outing.  The senior scored a team-high 20 points on 6-8 shooting from the field, including 4-5 from 3-point range, and 4-4 from the free throw line.  Ausdemore has scored 20 points in back-to-back games (at Drake and at Wisconsin).   Other Hawkeyes scoring double figures tonight were Kristi Smith (13), JoAnn Hamlin (10) and Megan Skouby (14).  Hamlin also snagged 10 rebounds to register her second double-double of the season (Iowa State).   Iowa used a 9-2 run midway through the second stanza to build its largest cushion (56-36) with 11:08 left in the game.  Later, the Badgers answered with a 7-0 run to close to within 11 (58-47) with 6:55 left.   Iowa made 11 of their first 18 field goal attempts (.611) the first 15 minutes of the game.  For the half, Iowa was 13-23 (.565) from the floor, compared to 10-33 (.303) for the Badgers.  The Black and Gold led by 12 at intermission (35-23).  Wendy Ausdemore and Megan Skouby each scored eight first-half points, while Kristi Smith contributed seven the first 20 minutes.    Defensively, Kachine Alexander grabbed seven of her game-high 11 rebounds in the first half.  Alexander has pulled down double-digit rebounds four times this season and five times in her career.  The sophomore also equaled a career high with five assists for the second-consecutive game.   Wendy Ausdemore sparked Iowa offensive early, making three of her first four field goal attempts, including two 3-pointers, the first seven minutes.  Iowa jumped out to a 16-7 advantage to start the contest, with Ausdemore and Megan Skouby combining for 14 of the 16 points.   Kristi Smith made a driving lay-up as time expired in the first half.  It marked the second-straight game the senior dazzled the crowd with a driving lay-up buzzer-beater.   Iowa will have a couple days off for Christmas Break and return to action Sunday when it hosts Purdue.  Tip-off is scheduled for 2:05 p.m. inside Carver-Hawkeye Arena.   Post-Game Quotes Iowa Head Coach Lisa Bluder "I'm proud of the way our women handled playing two road games in three days.  I thought we came out focused and ready to play tonight.  I like the team balance having four players score double figures two-straight games.  We're playing exciting team basketball right now."   "Winning our first Big Ten game on the road gives us momentum and we can enjoy a nice Christmas break."   Senior Kristi Smith "This was a very big win for us tonight!  We came in well-prepared and wanted to get this win."