UW WBB: Badgers sweep Illini with 61-43 win

Three players scored in double figures and the Badgers tied a school record with just five turnovers in Wisconsin's 61-43 win in front of 5,944 fans at the Kohl Center Sunday night. The Badgers improve to 14-5 overall and are back at .500 in the Big Ten Conference at 4-4. Illinois is still winless in the Big Ten at 0-8 and drops to 4-15 overall. With the win, Wisconsin completes its first season sweep of Illinois since the 2003-04 season. RELATED CONTENT: http://www.uwbadgers.com/sport_news/wbb/headlines/story.html?sportid=135&storyid=16438     * Final Box Score     * UW Cumulative Stats     * UW Big Ten Stats     * UW Head coach Lisa Stone post-game quotes     * Post-game news conference (video)     * Courtside Blog     * Game Notes The five UW turnovers ties the school record set last year on Jan. 24, 2008, against Penn State. All five Badger turnovers were in the first half. Sophomore guard Alyssa Karel led the Badgers with 15 points while junior guard Teah Gant and junior forward Mariah Dunham chipped in 11 and 10 points, respectively. All of Dunham's points came in the second half. Sophomores Tara Steinbauer and Lin Zastrow also added eight points each. As a team, Wisconsin converted on 25-of-53 attempts for 47.2 percent on the night. Two Illini players finished with double-doubles. Jenna Smith scored 15 points and grabbed 12 rebounds while Lacey Simpson put up 11 points and 12 rebounds. Illinois finished 18-of-46 for 39.1 percent and won the battle on the boards, 32-28. Dunham and Gant led Wisconsin with six rebounds apiece. While Wisconsin had just five turnovers, Illinois finished with 15 giveaways, which led to 17 Wisconsin points. The Badgers won the battle in the paint by outscoring the Illini 32-14. Both teams made it to the free throw line nine times. Wisconsin converted on 7-of-9 free throw attempts for 77.8 percent while Illinois was just 5-of-9 for 55.6 percent. Karel opened up the game by scoring Wisconsin's first eight points. Gant extended the lead to 10-0 with a jumper but Smith got the Illini on the board for the first time at the 15:50 mark. Before Smith scored, Illinois struggled early by turning the ball over on its first four possessions. Illinois then chipped away at the Badgers' lead and used a 5-0 run to pull within three points (14-11) with 8:33 left in the half. With Wisconsin scoreless for more than three minutes, Gant broke the drought by nailing a jumper and a 3-pointer on back-to-back UW possessions. Anya Covington then scored in the lane on the next possession to help the Badgers jump out to a 21-11 lead with 6:40 showing. That was the last field goal Wisconsin scored until Steinbauer connected on a layup in the paint with just 30 seconds left in the half. The Badgers did make four free throws during the stretch and took a 27-17 lead into halftime. Wisconsin made 10-of-23 attempts for 43.5 percent heading into halftime while Illinois made just 7-of-24 shots for 29.2 percent. The Badgers opened up the second half by outscoring the Illini 9-2 to take their biggest lead of the game at that point (36-19) with 16:10 remaining. Zastrow scored four points, Karel converted on an old-fashioned 3-point play and Dunham opened the half with two points for Wisconsin. Both teams traded buckets midway through the second half until Illinois got a Badger stop and scored on back-to-back possessions to pull within 10 (44-34) with 11:21 left. Illinois came within 10 again after a made jumper by Smith with 7:15 showing. That would be the closest the Illini came the rest of the way. Dunham and Karel combined for 10 points during a little over five-minute stretch (6:48-1:25) to put the game out of reach at 58-41 with 1:25 left to play. Sophomore guard Alana Trotter put the finishing touches on the UW win by scoring her first bucket as a Badger, nailing a 3-pointer with 36 seconds left. Wisconsin hits the road for two games this week. First up is a 6 p.m. CT match-up Thursday against Penn State in University Park, Pa. Be sure to stay tuned to UWBadgers.com throughout the week for previews on the upcoming road games.