Hoosiers Fall on the Road at Wisconsin, 73-69

Thursday, December 31

Madison, Wis.

3 pm

Indiana University

8-5, 0-1

at Wisconsin

5-6, 1-0

Indiana

Wisconsin

12/31/2015 5:32:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score

MADISON, Wis. – Indiana fell on the road to open Big Ten play at Wisconsin inside the Kohl Center on Thursday, 73-69. Tyra Buss led Indiana with 16 points in the effort as Amanda Cahill added 13 points and Alexis Gassion had 10 for the Hoosiers.

Indiana (8-5, 0-1) went empty on its first five possessions before stringing together some offense as a Buss 3-point field goal tied it early at 8-8. Both teams battled the rest of the first quarter as the Hoosiers took a 18-17 lead at the end of the period as Kym Royster hit a layup at the horn.

Wisconsin (5-6, 1-0) caught fire to start the second, scoring the first nine points of the quarter and using an overall 11-1 run to build a 28-19 advantage. Jenn Anderson ended a 7:31 field goal drought for the Hoosiers and Jess Walter followed with a layup to cut the deficit to five with just over three minutes remaining.

Another last second bucket, this time by IU's Anderson, made it a 35-27 Wisconsin lead at the half.

The Hoosiers came out of the locker room with a flourish. Cahill started things with a jumper. After a UW field goal, Anderson hit a layup ahead of another Cahill jumper to pull IU within four.

An Alexis Gassion layup and a pair of Anderson free throws polished a 10-2 Hoosier run to start the third period to tie it at 37-37 at the 7:19 mark. UW later responded using back-to-back 3-point field goals to build an eight-point lead but Indiana finished the quarter strong to make it a 52-49 Badger lead heading to the fourth.

After a Buss free throw to start the fourth, Wisconsin used a 10-2 run to build a 10-point lead, 62-52, with 5:45 to play. Buss then scored five in a row for IU to make it a 62-57 Badger lead.

A Cahill free throw made it a four-point difference before UW hit a jumper to go in front 64-58 with 3:17 on the clock.

IU fired back with four straight from Cahill and Buss to make it a 64-62 score with 2:16 to go.

The following Wisconsin possession was crucial in determining the outcome. UW's Avyanna Young missed a layup and grabbed her own rebound. They pulled the ball out and missed another field goal before Wisconsin's Nicole Bauman secured another offensive board for the Badgers.

With a third opportunity to score in one possession, Bauman hit a deep 3-point field goal as the shot clock expired to make it a two possession game, 67-62, with under a minute to play.

That shot ended up being the dagger Wisconsin needed to take the win.

Indiana will return to Assembly Hall on Sunday to battle Michigan live on BTN at 12:30 p.m. ET.