Wisconsin: overrated

The women's basketball team proved Thursday night that defense truly wins games. By halftime, the Hoosiers had smothered the Wisconsin Badgers enough to earn a 36-29 lead, while forcing 10 turnovers.\nAnd it just kept getting worse for the Badgers (16-3, 7-2 Big Ten).\nFor a team that averages just over 18 turnovers a game, Wisconsin lost the ball 25 times.\nThat was enough for IU (9-10, 3-5) to upset the Big Ten leaders and the ninth-ranked team in the country, 70-63. \nBut not before overtime.\nWisconsin, who has lost 13 straight in Bloomington, came back with less than six minutes in the game to force overtime. With an under the basket shot from Indiana-native Tamara Moore, the Badgers tied the score 58-58.\n"There were no long faces," senior center Jill Chapman said. "Everybody believed. We knew that if we kept pushing, and playing defense, we were going to win this game."\nWisconsin's big shooter, Jessie Stomski, scored less than 15 seconds into overtime, giving the Badgers the lead for the first time since early in the first half.\nBut IU kept a strong offense-defense tandem that started in regulation to go on a 9-0 run and jump to a 69-60 lead. \nWisconsin attempted three three-pointers in the final minute of the game, but only Indianapolis-native Kyle Black's fell for the Badgers.\nWith five seconds left, senior guard Tara Jones sealed the game with a free throw. Fittingly, on the game's last possession, Wisconsin turned the ball over. The 25 turnovers were one shy of tying the Badgers' record. \n"The guards kept emphasizing pressure, pressure, pressure on their guards, and I think (our) posts and (our) guards stepped up tonight," senior guard Heather Cassady said. "It was a huge plus down the stretch."\nGoing into the half, the Hoosiers had a 36-29 lead. The 36 points were the most IU had going into the half since the start of the Big Ten season. The Hoosiers carried the energy created in the first half to begin the second half.\nIU led by as much as eight points in the second half before Wisconsin went on a drive of their own. After senior Jill Chapman scored under the basket with 7:09 remaining in the second half to give the Hoosiers a 51-43 lead, the Badgers iced IU, and came within two points with just over three minutes to play.\nIU pulled away with less than a minute to play, but Black hit a three-pointer for the Badgers to bring them within one. After Cassady went one-for-one at the free-throw line, Wisconsin's Moore, dashed the hopes of a regulation upset by getting inside and hitting the lay-up with 10 seconds left.\n"I thought we'd be okay," Wisconsin coach Jane Albright said of her team's comeback. "I thought we'd be relieved and settle in and play some good defense. I really thought we were okay."\nThe overtime start was eerily similar to the beginning of the game.\nThe Badgers jumped to a two-point lead before losing the ball twice off steals by Chapman and freshman Jenny DeMuth.\nBut while the Hoosiers were taking the ball from the Badgers, they also began to heat up on the offensive side of the ball.\nIU jumped to an early lead in the first half. Feeding off a strong defense, the Hoosiers went on a 15-0 scoring run to increase their lead to 23-9. At the end of the half, IU shot 48.5 percent. \n"The first five minutes, we've always emphasized that, too," Cassady said. "They're huge. You have to go out and win those first five minutes. \nThe Badgers went scoreless for more than five minutes as their leading scorer, Stomski, had a quiet first half. Stomski, who averaged 19.2 points before the IU game and is the third leading scorer in the Big Ten, went 4-for-8 for eight points. She ended with 14 points.\nWhile Wisconsin's leading scorer was experiencing an uncharacteristic drought, IU saw it's main shooter heat up.\nChapman, the ninth-leading scorer in the Big Ten, was 7-of-9 for IU, and scored 15 points in the first half. She grabbed four rebounds in the first half, three of them offensive. Chapman finished with 30 points and 11 rebounds.\nCassady, who finished with 11, and senior forward Erin McGinnis, who had 14 points and nine rebounds, complimented Chapman.\n"It was an outstanding win for us," IU coach Kathi Bennett said. "I just think about all the practice we've had with the defeats and there's never been a lack of effort or attitude, and I'm really proud of how we kept believing"