Badgers hang on for 58-54 win over Michigan

The Wisconsin women's basketball team relinquished a 16-point lead with 6:11 left in the game but managed to hang on for the 58-54 win over Michigan Sunday afternoon at the Kohl Center. A season high 7,857 fans came out to watch the Badgers improve to 13-4 overall, 3-3 in the Big Ten Conference. Michigan drops to 9-7, 2-3. RELATED CONTENT: http://www.uwbadgers.com/sport_news/wbb/headlines/story.html?sportid=135&storyid=16379     * Box Score     * UW cumulative stats     * UW Big Ten Stats     * UW head coach Lisa Stone post-game quotes     * Michigan head coach Kevin Borseth post-game quotes     * Post-game press conference (video)     * Courtside Blog     * Archived BigTenNetwork.com Web stream     * Game Notes Three Badgers finished in double figures and junior forward Mariah Dunham led all players with a season-high 17 points. Dunham was 7-of-9 from the field and added two blocks and two steals. Junior guard Rae Lin D'Alie added a season-high 15 points and finished a perfect 6-of-6 from the field. After scoring a season-low five points against Ohio State Thursday, sophomore guard Alyssa Karel got back into double digits and finished with 10 points, all of which came in the second half, including 3-of-4 from 3-point range. Melinda Queen and Veronica Hicks led Michigan with 12 points each but the Wolverines were just 18-of-56 from the field for 32.1 percent. Wisconsin connected on 22-of-51 for 43.1 percent. Michigan won the battle on the boards, out-rebounding Wisconsin 39-34. Jessica Minnfield grabbed a game-high nine rebounds while sophomore forward Lin Zastrow led the UW with seven rebounds. D'Alie finished with six rebounds while Karel also grabbed five boards. Wisconsin finished with 14 assists and 14 turnovers. Junior guard Teah Gant tied a season high with four assists while D'Alie also chipped in four dimes. Michigan scored 13 points off Wisconsin's 14 turnovers and the Badgers registered 12 points off 13 giveaways by Michigan. Both teams struggled from the free throw line. Michigan came into today's game second in the Big Ten with a 75.4 free throw percentage but managed just 13-of-20 for 65 percent today. Wisconsin connected on 7-of-12 free throws for 58.3 percent, going 2-of-6 in the final minute of the game. The Badgers started hot by connecting on their first three field goals to take the 7-0 lead. Michigan on the other hand came out cold and missed its first 10 field goals. The Wolverines did not connect on a field goal until the 11:52 mark as Wisconsin jumped out to a 12-1 lead during that stretch. Dunham was 3-for-3 at that point and D'Alie was also a perfect 2-for-2. Michigan then held Wisconsin scoreless for more than three minutes and scored four-straight points to pull within seven (16-9) with 6:13 showing. Gant connected on two free throws to break the drought and Dunham made two more layups to put UW up 22-14 with 3:24 left in the half. Dunham was a perfect 5-of-5 from the field at that point. Both teams scored four more points the rest of the half as Wisconsin took the 26-18 lead into halftime. The Wolverines were just 6-of-25 from the field for 24 percent while Wisconsin finished the half 11-of-23 for 47.8 percent. Dunham and D'Alie went into halftime with 10 and nine points, respectively. Wisconsin opened up the second half with back-to-back 3-pointers from Karel and D'Alie to put the score at 32-18. D'Alie then grabbed a rebound off Jessica Minnfield's missed layup and converted on a fastbreak layup to give the Badgers an 8-0 run to start the half with their biggest lead of the game at that point (16 points, 34-18). D'Alie was a perfect 6-of-6 from the field, including 2-of-2 from 3-point range at that point. Michigan then scored seven unanswered points to pull within nine (34-25) with 13:59 left. Hicks scored all seven of Michigan's points with a layup, jumper and 3-point basket. Hicks scored another basket to put the Wolverines within seven points (36-29), its smallest margin since trailing by six points with 3:45 left in the first half. Wisconsin jumped back out to a 16-point lead by out-scoring the Wolverines 19-9 to take a 53-37 lead with 6:11 left but Michigan rallied back to put the Badgers on their toes in the final minutes. The Wolverines pulled within nine points (53-44 with 2:47 left) by scoring seven unanswered. Dunham gave the Badgers another 12-point lead after hitting a 3-pointer but Michigan converted on two free throws and nailed a 3-pointer with 1:15 left to put the score at 56-49. Michigan fouled D'Alie twice in the final minute and put her at the line for two one-and-one opportunities. D'Alie missed both opportunities and Michigan's Stephany Skrba made two free throws to pull Michigan within four (56-52) with just 34 seconds left. D'Alie then went to the line for the double bonus and went 1-of-2 to give the Badgers a five-point lead with 33 seconds left. Michigan again stayed on the UW's heels after Courtney Boylan made a jumper with 14 seconds left to put the tally at 57-54. Karel went to the line one more time for Wisconsin and made one free throw with 12 seconds left to seal the UW victory. Michigan missed its final two field goal attempts and Wisconsin hung on for the 58-54 win. Wisconsin returns to the road Thursday for a 6 p.m. match-up against Indiana inside Assembly Hall.