It was back-to-back nights for Badgers basketball teams going to double overtime, but unfortunately it wasn't as kind to Wisconsin this time around as the ladies dropped a 65-59 decision to Ohio State in Columbus. While it may sound obvious to say this game slipped through the fingers of Wisconsin, it literally did on Thursday night.
With 1 second remaining and Wisconsin holding a seemingly insurmountable 52-48 lead they did the smart thing and put the Buckeyes on the free throw line for three free throws. OSU's Tayler Hill, who had 15 points on the night, hit the first two free throws to make it 52-50.
OSU called time out and missed the next free throw on purpose. All Wisconsin had to do was swat the ball away, but instead Ameryrst Alston grabbed the rebound and threw up a prayer from the free throw line to tie the game up at 52-52 and send it into overtime.
Just how bad did this game slip through the Badgers' hands? Wisconsin got a career high 32 points along with 15 rebounds from forward Jacki Gulczynski and still couldn't win. The Badgers got 13 points from star guard Morgan Paige and still couldn't win. They also had a 32-24 advantage in points in the paint along with an impressive 50-36 advantage on the boards and still couldn't win.
The pattern of this game was set early, with neither team being able to establish a lead that they could keep. OSU held the largest advantage of the 1st half at 15-10 with 7:50 left to play. Overall the game was tied 14 times and the lead changed 10 times on the night.
That pattern continued into OT and that was unfortunate for the Badgers who took the lead three times with Gulczynski sinking four of the six points, only to be tied up each and every time. The OT period ended with the score tied 58-58 with both teams clearly tiring in the final two minutes of the extra frame.
In the final frame it was OSU taking the 1st lead and it was one that would finally take hold as Wisconsin could only muster one point in double overtime and going just 3-7 in the OT periods combined.
Double OT proved to be just too much for a Badgers team that just doesn't have the depth between youth and a ton of injuries to the roster. Gulczynski played every second of this one and guard Morgan Paige played all but three of the 50 minutes.
Wisconsin got 35 minutes from freshman guard Tessa Cinchy off the bench (3 points, 6 rebounds, 4 assists) a day after her brother officially became a walk-on for the Badgers football team.
The loss dropped Wisconsin to 10-13 overall and 2-8 in Big Ten play, leaving them all alone in 11th place in the league. Wisconsin will go off the road and back to the confines of the Kohl Center to take on Indiana at 2pm on Sunday.
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