IU's road woes continue

The losing streak continues.

Wisconsin came back after being down by eight points with 17 minutes and 23 seconds remaining in the second half Wednesday to hand IU its 19th consecutive Big Ten road loss 65-60.

The Hoosiers and Badgers took turns exchanging blows throughout the 40 minutes of action. The lead switched hands often throughout the night as neither team was able to take decisive command of the game.

The Hoosier offense struggled throughout the night, only shooting 23-of-68 — 33.8 percent — from the field.

IU, a team that has relied on 3-point shooting often this season, only made 3-of-19 during the game.

The lack of 3-point scoring hurt the team as it struggled to find other ways to score.
“The three ball energizes us,” IU Coach Curt Miller said. “With not making threes, that makes it difficult. There were stretches tonight where we executed and tonight where we just didn’t make enough shots.”

Despite the poor shooting, IU led 24-22 at halftime.

The Hoosiers came out of the half on a 7-2 scoring run to extend the lead to 31-24 with 18 minutes and three seconds remaining.

But they would not be able to continue hitting shots as consistently as they did coming out of the break.

“The shooting percentage is going to haunt us that we didn’t make a few more shots tonight to come away with the victory,” Miller said.

The teams were tied at 53 points each with three minutes and 20 seconds left in the second half, but Wisconsin closed the game out on a 12-7 scoring run.

The Hoosiers missed four field goal attempts in the final 26 seconds as they were handed their second loss of the season.

“We’ve got to make tough shots,” Miller said. “It’s not always easy to make shots in this league.”

With only 10 seconds remaining, freshman guard Karlee McBride had a potential game-tying 3-point attempt from the corner blocked by Wisconsin junior forward Jackie Gulczynski.

The ball deflected off of IU, giving the Badgers possession.

On the ensuing inbound, Gulczynski fired a nearly full-court baseball pass to junior forward Michala Johnson on the run.

She sent in a layup with eight seconds remaining to extend the Badger lead to the eventual final score 65-60.

Gulcyznski was dominant throughout the game.

The 6-foot-1 forward, who managed to stretch the floor, had season highs with 23 points and 13 rebounds.

She also recorded six blocks and dished out a pair of assists.

“She did a nice job not only rebounding but blocking shots and being a defensive presence,” Miller said. “We did a really good job on their two talented wings. Gulcyznski was the difference in the game.”

Now, IU has a quick turnaround before playing No. 22 Purdue on Friday where the team will have another chance to end its nearly three-year-old losing streak against Big Ten teams on the road.

The team will travel to West Lafayette and plans to arrive sometime late tonight before preparing to play for the Barn Burner Trophy on Friday.

“We’ll do some film tomorrow morning and then we’ll do a practice,” Miller said. “We’ll put the gameplan together and fight against the Boilermakers.”

Follow reporter Sam Beishuizen on Twitter @Sam_Beishuizen.