UW WBB: Badgers fall to Michigan for fourth straight loss

Feb. 1, 2009 Women's Basketball Loses Fourth Straight ANN ARBOR, Mich. – In a game that was over almost from the start, the Wisconsin women's basketball team dropped its fourth straight game, losing 70-42 at Michigan on Sunday afternoon. "We didn't come ready to play," said UW coach Lisa Stone. "Our warm-up was poor. Our start was poor. Our kids looked tired after one trip down the floor and there's no excuse for lack of energy, lack of effort. I'm very disappointed. This one was over before the (first) media (timeout)." After falling behind 9-0 in the first five minutes of play, Stone subbed out her entire starting group.     "We tried to find something by playing (other) people," explained Stone. "They give us a little spark but it didn't last. We couldn't get it going (and) we scored nothing inside." The Badgers (14-8, 4-7) didn't get on the board until Jamie Russell made a jumper with 14:55 left in the half to make it 9-2. Alana Trotter hit a 3-pointer with 14:18 remaining to pull the UW within four (9-5) and the Badgers stayed close through the first 10 minutes play. A Teah Gant 3-pointer made it a four-point game (14-10) with 10:04 to go in the half but Wisconsin wouldn't score for nearly eight-and-a-half minutes as Michigan went on a 15-0 run. The Wolverines (10-12, 3-8) were up 29-10 until Russell scored again with 1:39 remaining to make it 29-12. Wisconsin trailed 32-16 at the half and Michigan extended its lead to 20 (41-21) with 16:15 left to play and by 32 points three times, the first at 60-28 with 7:15 remaining. "Give some credit to Michigan's defense and offensively, it was just a matter of time before they opened the cover on the basket," said Stone. "They knocked them down today; they got some inside, they got some outside. Defensively, we were poor; we were a step slow." The win ended the Wolverines six-game losing streak. Michigan hit an impressive 57.1 percent (24-42) from the field, including 46.7 percent (7-15) from 3-point range. It was also 15-20 from the free throw line. "We have to get back to what we do. We didn't do a whole lot of what our identity is," said Stone. "We gave up 70 points, which is very uncharacteristic of us." Five players scored in double figures from the Wolverines, led by Veronica Hicks with a game-high 15 points. Stephany Skrba, Melinda Queen and Jessica Minnfield all added 11 points while Carmen Reynolds chipped in 10 points for Michigan. Wisconsin shot just 28.8 percent (17-59) from the field, its second-lowest percentage of the season. The Badgers shot a season-low 17.4 percent (4-23) from 3-point range and went to the free throw line only six times, making four. The 28-point loss is the worst for Wisconsin this season and the biggest losing margin since falling to Illinois, 84-54 on Feb. 15, 2006. "We told our kids to show some character and fight and battle," said Stone. "It's very, very frustrating and it's a game we have to learn from. Overall, it was a disappointing trip to Ann Arbor." For the first time all season, the Badgers failed to have a player in double-figure scoring. Russell and Tara Steinbauer led the Badgers with seven points apiece. Without the services of junior Mariah Dunham, who didn't make the trip due to a violation of team rules, Wisconsin played all 11 players with 10 scoring. The Badgers outrebounded the Wolverines 35-32, led by Steinbauer and Rae Lin D'Alie with six apiece. Early turnovers hurt Wisconsin as it had 13 in the first half, but finished with 18 compared to 19 for Michigan. UW also had 19 fouls in the game while UM had only seven. Wisconsin has a week to recover from today's game before traveling to West Lafayette, Ind., next Sunday to take on Purdue. "We have a week now and it's a week that we probably need," said Stone. "The bye week comes at a good time because we need to identify some things and wrinkle some things up offensively to find someasily and get back to what we do defensively. We need to address some things within our team. We've got to make a turn here because this was probably our worst performance of year so far."