The Wisconsin Badgers women’s basketball team has notched a defeat on the 2024 season after visiting South Dakota State.
The Jackrabbits controlled play against the Badgers the entire game and never looked back, which resulted in a big 79-57 win for the team. South Dakota State is not your run of the mill program, however, with two straight NCAA Tournament appearances and a 25th-overall ranking in the coaches poll. The recent win over Georgetown was considered a “big step” for the Wisconsin Badgers program, and thus a win over the Jackrabbits would have been a leap.
While the score might tell a different story, the Wisconsin women’s team was able to keep the game a close battle for quite a while. The Jackrabbits led 38-30 at the start of the third-quarter and then led 62-51 a minute into the fourth-quarter. Wisconsin was able to keep the game within relative striking distance for quite some time, but never could quite find a way to stop the Jackrabbits.
DONT WORRY ABOUT IT MOVE ON FROM IT!!! Go Badgers! Onto the next!
— Ty Mastin (@tymastin_1) November 14, 2024
Following the game, many fans took to social media to encourage the team to “move on from” the tough loss while a lot can be learned. Wisconsin cannot let the loss get in the way moving forward, as a tough conference schedule forces the Badgers to win all the non-conference games they can.
What Does the Wisconsin Badgers Team Need to do to Bounce Back?
While the Wisconsin Badgers women’s team looked solid at times against the Jackrabbits, the team never quite looked ready for the jump in competition.
Following a massive win over Georgetown, one that is arguably a great step forward for the program, many thought the Badgers could compete with the Jackrabbits. Wisconsin was able to keep the score relatively close until the fourth-quarter when the team could not hold on any longer.
What really went wrong for the team involved a combination of shots not dropping and players passing out of solid shooting situations. Sometimes a team can be overly generous and the Wisconsin Badgers did this a couple times against Georgetown, where a player had an open shot but passed out to avoid a closeout. It had worked last game, but against the Jackrabbits who were prepared for that approach, it did not go quite to plan.
The Wisconsin Badgers have two real “scorers” on the team who can score on a team at will when given the chance. Both forward Serah Williams and guard Ronnie Porter are those players, however, neither was really able to open up the offense against the Jackrabbits.
Porter hit some big three-point shots against Georgetown and Wright State but spent the majority of the game tightly guarded. Williams on the other hand often faced two defenders in the paint but scored 19 points and recorded nine rebounds for the Badgers. Williams arguably should have been more of focus, especially on the high pick-and-pops where the forward often draws fouls.
On the defensive side of the basketball, it really came down to closing out for the Wisconsin Badgers against high-level shooters. Georgetown scored some deep buckets, hitting seven triples and shooting 35% from deep, but could not convert in the paint against Williams. The Jackrabbits, however, shot 42.9% from three and 51.7% from the field against the Wisconsin Badgers defense.
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