UW WBB: Steinbauer's double-double gives UW 58-52 win over PSU

MADISON, Wis. http://www.uwbadgers.com/sport_news/wbb/headlines/story.html?sportid=135&storyid=16808 Sophomore forward Tara Steinbauer registered her first career double-double Thursday night and helped the Badgers end their five-game losing skid with a 58-52 win over Penn State. Steinbauer scored 16 points and grabbed 10 rebounds in front of 5,297 fans at the Kohl Center for the first double-double of any UW player this year. With the win, Wisconsin improves to 15-10 overall, 5-9 in the Big Ten Conference while Penn State drops to 9-14, 4-9. COMPLETE POST-GAME COVERAGE:     * Final Box Score     * UW Cumulative Stats     * UW Big Ten Stats     * Post-game quotes     * Post-game news conference (video)     * Courtside Blog     * Archived Big Ten Network Web stream     * Post-game notes     * Game highlights Thursday's game stayed close until the final minute with Wisconsin leading 52-50 with 1:17 left to play. Steinbauer grabbed a decisive offensive rebound with and converted on the putback with 53 ticks left to give the Badgers the 54-50 lead. Penn State came within two points once more off a jumper by Tyra Grant but the Badgers made 2-of-4 free throws and sophomore guard Alyssa Karel converted on a fastbreak layup in the final 45 seconds to give the Badgers the 58-52 victory. PSU had opportunities but missed three field goals in the final 45 seconds. Steinbauer tied her career high with 16 points and established a new career high with her 10 boards. She was 5-of-8 from the field and had five offensive as well as five defensive boards. Two other Badgers finished in double figures including, 15 points from Karel and 11 for sophomore forward Lin Zastrow. Wisconsin shot 20-of-56 from the field for 35.7 percent. Grant led all scorers with 24 points off 8-of-15 shooting. She was the only Nittany Lion in double figures and her team finished 18-of-46 for 39.1 percent. Wisconsin shot more free throws than Penn State but made just one more than the Nittany Lions. The Badgers finished 14-of-23 from the charity stripe for 60.9 percent while PSU was 13-of-16 for 81.3 percent. The Badgers won the rebounding battle with the 36-31 edge. Freshman Anya Covington and junior guard Rae Lin D'Alie helped Steinbauer on the boards with six each. Wisconsin tied a season high with 12 steals while PSU had just five. The Badgers scored 22 points off 21 PSU turnovers while the Nittany Lions took advantage of 11 points off 12 UW giveaways. Penn State jumped out to a 5-3 lead early but went almost nine minutes without scoring. During that time, Wisconsin also had an over-five-minute scoring drought but managed to go on a 12-0 run, including six points in-a-row off layups by Zastrow. The 12-0 run put the Badgers up 15-5 with 10:12 remaining in the half. PSU's scoring drought started at 18:19 and ended at 9:44 when Grant hit a 3-pointer. Grant then scored back-to-back buckets to put PSU within three (15-12) with 7:22 left in the half. At that point, Grant had all four of Penn State's field goals. The Badgers responded, scoring seven unanswered points to go up 22-12 with 5:05 left in the half. Wisconsin scored just four more points the rest of the half but took a 26-19 lead into the lockerroom. Both teams shot less than 40 percent with the Badgers hitting 8-of-23 shots for 34.8 percent. PSU made 10-of-28 attempts for 35.7 percent. Covington was everywhere for the Badgers in the first half and grabbed all six of her rebounds, adding an assist, a block and a steal. Steinbauer had seven points for Wisconsin while Grant led all scorers with 12 points in the period. Zastrow scored Wisconsin's first four points of the second half while a steal and fastbreak layup by D'Alie gave the Badgers their biggest lead of the game at 13 points (32-19) with 18:24 left to play. After that, Wisconsin was without a field goal until the 10:58 mark and PSU used that time to outscore the Badgers 14-1, knotting the score at 33 with 12:16 left. Julia Trogele drew up two old-fashioned three-point plays during the run. Steinbauer broke Wisconsin's drought at 10:58 with a layup off a D'Alie assist to put the Badgers back up 35-33 with 10:58 showing. Shortly after, Steinbauer drained just her second 3-pointer all season, giving the Badgers the 39-35 cushion with 8:24 showing. Her bucket at 10:58 started a 13-5 run, which put the Badgers back up 48-38 (5:16 remaining). Penn State again chipped away at the lead and Zhaque Gray scored seven-straight points for the Nittany Lions to put them within two (52-50) with just 1:17 left to play. On the Badgers next possession, Steinbauer grabbed the offensive board and nailed the second-chance layup (54-52) and Wisconsin held off the Nittany Lions the rest of the way to register its 15th win of the season. The Badgers return to their home court Monday and take on Indiana. Game time is scheduled for 7 p.m. and it will air live on the Big Ten Network.