Wisconsin women’s basketball falls to Saint Louis, is eliminated from WNIT

Wisconsin women’s basketball falls to Saint Louis, is eliminated from WNIT

Wisconsin’s women’s basketball program fell to Saint Louis University 65-60 in its Great 8 round of the 2024 Women’s National Invitation Tournament on Monday, April 1. 

With a 15-17 overall clip before yesterday’s action, the Badgers conquered both the University of Southern Indiana and Illinois State University in the first two rounds of their postseason gauntlet.

Wisconsin’s leading scorer and rebounder Serah Williams exited with an injury in the first minute of the Badgers’ contest against Saint Louis. The Billikens capitalized and orchestrated an 8-0 scoring surge to open the contest. 

The Badgers responded with four straight layups and a pair of jumpers to cut the deficit to two, but Saint Louis maintained a four-tally advantage heading into the second stanza.

UW’s offense sputtered in the second quarter – Wisconsin registered nine total points and surrendered nine unanswered points before the break. The Billikens marched into intermission up eight. 

Moseley’s crew appeared to find new life towards the tail end of the third period with a flurry of layups from Halle Douglass, Ronnie Porter and D’Yanis Jimenez. The momentum proved true, and Wisconsin pulled within a point with 6:24 to spare in the contest.

Guard Ronnie Porter knotted the game at 53 apiece off a free throw, and the Badgers seemed to command the Kohl Center crowd when crunch time commenced. Badgers freshman Tessa Grady went on to drill a three-point field goal to put UW ahead 58-57 in the final minutes, but Saint Louis forced a pair of key turnovers late to clinch a 65-60 win.

Wisconsin’s season ends with a 17-18 record after the brief postseason surge.

Two Badgers earn Big Ten weekly honors

Two Badgers earn Big Ten weekly honors

The Badgers women’s basketball team had two players earn Big Ten awards Monday as forward Serah Williams was selected as the Player of the Week and freshman Tessa Grady earned the conference’s Freshman of the Week honors.

Wisconsin went 2-0 at home this past week, beating Minnesota 59-56 on Tuesday and Rutgers 73-62 on Saturday. In those contests, Williams was utterly dominant, averaging 27.5 points and 13.5 rebound while also compiling five total blocks.

Grady didn’t appear in the team’s win over the Scarlet Knights, but she did have a massive impact on their victory over the Gophers, nailing a career-high five three-pointers in a 15-point performance.

The Badgers (10-9) will return to action Thursday night, squaring off with 12th-ranked Ohio State on the road in Columbus.

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Class of 2023 Badger WBB Freshman move in

As the 2023-2024 season is around the corner, the Wisconsin women’s basketball team had their incoming freshman from the 2023 recruiting class move in this week.

As the 2023-2024 season is around the corner, the Wisconsin women’s basketball team had their incoming freshman from the 2023 recruiting class move in this week.

Guard D’Yanis Jimenez, guard Leena Patibandla, forward Imbie Jones and forward Tessa Grady have officially moved in. One more freshman, Ana Guillen will move in at a later date.

The Badgers are coming off of a 11-20 (6-12 in the Big Ten) campaign in 2022-2023, but they lost leading scorer Julie Pospisilova as well as guards Avery LaBarbera (graduated) and Maty Wilke (transferred to Utah) and will be looking to replace their production.

Head coach Marisa Moseley is entering her third season at the helm and this is her second recruiting class in Madison.

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