Wisconsin Badgers women's basketball beats Minnesota, climbs Big Ten standings
Not long ago the Wisconsin women’s basketball team had lost 18 of 19 to Minnesota.
Tuesday the Badgers flipped the script on their border rival for the second straight season, scoring a 67-56 victory at Williams Arena to give them their second straight regular-season sweep of the Golden Gophers.
Sophomore forward Serah Williams extended her double-doubles streak to 12 games with 30 points and 15 rebounds. The team also got double-figure scoring from sophomore guard Sania Copeland, who went 3 for 6 from three-point range and finished with 12 points, her highest total in 14 games. Freshman guard D’Yanis Jimenez finished with 10 points, her first double-digit scoring performance in six contests.
Those three were key figures in a victory that holds significance in the Big Ten standings as well as in the development of the Wisconsin program.
BOX SCORE: Wisconsin 67, Minnesota 56
The victory raised the Badgers overall record to 13-12, their highest win total since they went 15-18 (4-14 Big Ten) in 2018-19. In the Big Ten, UW improved to 6-9. That equals last season’s win total, which was the best for the program in the Big Ten since 2010-11.
And in the standings, UW climbed to 10th, which at the moment gives it a first-round bye in the Big Ten Tournament. Wisconsin is one game ahead of the Golden Gophers, but thanks to a season sweep the Badgers own the tie-breaker between the two teams.
This marked the second straight road victory for Wisconsin and the second straight game it didn’t trail.
Tuesday UW gained some separation from the Gophers with a 24-point second quarter during which it hit 6 of 11 shots (54.5%), went 2 for 2 from three-point range and connected on 10 of 12 free throw attempts.
Minnesota, which played without starters Mara Braun (foot) and Sophie Hart (hip), scored 12 points during the quarter while shooting 36.4% (4 for 11). The Badgers’ 15-point lead, 39-24, at halftime was their largest to that point.
The advantage grew to 19 in the third quarter before Minnesota whittled away at the lead. It was down to six points, 55-49, with 5 minutes 22 seconds left.
Wisconsin, however, got a steal and layup by senior Brooke Schramek that pushed the lead to eight with 4½ minutes to play and a steal by Porter the next possession led to two free throw by senior Natalie Leuzinger. The Badgers led, 59-49, with 4:04 to go.
Williams, who hit 11 of 14 shots, punctuated the night by scoring seven of the Badgers final eight points.
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Wisconsin women's basketball beats Minnesota, moves up in Big Ten
