The Wisconsin women's basketball team swept rival Minnesota for the first time in 12 years. Here are four reasons it happened.
Mark Stewart
MADISON – Sweep!
The Wisconsin women’s basketball team scored a 76-70 overtime win over Minnesota on Saturday at Williams Arena in Minneapolis to score a regular-season sweep of the Gophers for the first time in 12 years.
Senior Julie Pospisilova finished with 22 points, four rebounds and three assists as the Badgers (8-18, 3-11 Big Ten) equaled their overall win total from last season. Junior Brooke Schramek equaled a career high with 20 points and tied for the team high with six rebounds. Freshman Maty Wilke added 11 points and seven steals.
They were key figures in a victory that included 14 ties and 11 lead changes, momentum swings Wisconsin survived to turn the tide on a dozen-year stretch of Minnesota dominance. The Gophers won 18 of the last 19 meetings entering the season.
For the moment, however, the rivalry has swung in Wisconsin's favor. The Badgers' 81-77 win over the Gophers on Jan. 8 snapped a five-game losing streak in the series. The victory Saturday gave UW its first winning streak over its chief rival since it won its sixth straight over the Gophers in Jan. 2012.
As a point of perspective, it is not lost on us that Minnesota, like Wisconsin, has a very young team that is having far from a banner season, but around here there is never a reason to minimize any win over the Gophers.
Now back to the Badgers’ sweep. Here are four reasons it happened.
Wisconsin limited turnovers in both games against Minnesota
Turnovers have been Wisconsin’s biggest weaknesses this season. The Badgers rank 12th out of 14 Big Ten teams with an average of 20.1 per game and have posted a negative assist-turnover ratio in 10 of their 14 conference games so far.
Two of the games UW ended up ahead in that category came against the Gophers; UW’s turnover totals of 12 and 14, respective, are its lowest in league play. In addition to providing themselves more opportunities offensively, the Badgers' ability to protect the ball against Minnesota resulted in fewer points off turnovers. They allowed just an average of 12 points off turnovers vs. Gophers. Against the rest of the Big Ten that average is 25.5.
Badgers' defense kept the Gophers offense in check
Wisconsin’s defense has been a work in progress, ranking 13th out of 14 teams in defensive field goal percentage (.466) in league games and last in three-point defense (.385). Those percentages drop to .379 and .289 in games against the Gophers.
UW won the fourth quarter in both games
When your margin for error is as slim as Wisconsin’s, it’s hard to win games stumbling to finish. That didn’t happen against the Gophers. The Badgers outscored Minnesota by four in the fourth quarter of both games this season and almost doubled the Gophers output (11-5) in overtime Saturday.
Saturday UW’s effort in the fourth quarter and overtime was marked by balance. Pospisilova and Wilke had eight points during those 15 minutes; Schramek and LaBarbera had seven.
The Badgers shot 50% (10 of 20) overall during that portion of the game and were 4 for 6 (.667) from three-point range.
Julie Pospisilova, Brooke Schramek and Avery LaBarbera produced
Wisconsin doesn’t have an edge in experience over most teams, but it does over Minnesota and that paid off in both games this season.
In the first game, LaBarbera scored nine of her 20 points in the fourth quarter, including a step-back three that put UW ahead for good. In the second, Schramek sparked the team with eight first-quarter points and for the two games averaged 17 points, seven rebounds and four assists while going 13 for 14 from the line. Posipisilova rarely left the floor and averaged 21 points, 5.5 rebounds and five assists in the games.