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Down Two Starters, Wisconsin Badgers Women’s Basketball Defeats Illinois on the Road

Despite being down two starters, the Wisconsin Badgers women’s basketball team went on the road and took down the Illinois Fighting Illini.

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4 months ago

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Wisconsin Badgers women's basketball
Members of the University of Wisconsin women's basketball team celebrate their 78-70 victory over No. 12 Michigan Sunday Feb. 26, 2023 at the Kohl Center in Madison, Wis

Holy hell, what a nice win for the Wisconsin Badgers women’s basketball team on Sunday! A severely shorthanded UW squad traveled south to Champaign, Ill. and outlasted the Illini, 67-61, to earn their first conference win of the season. Let’s talk about how great Serah Williams (and the rest of the team too) was! Here is the full recap.

Wisconsin Badgers Women’s Basketball Defeats Illinois on the Road

Final Score

Wisconsin Badgers (8-6 overall, 1-3 Big Ten): 67
Illinois Fighting Illini (6-7 overall, 0-3 Big Ten): 61

Four Factors

eFG%: 41.4
Turnover%: 26.5
Off. Rebound%: 41.0
FTA/FGA: 43.1

Key Stats

FG%: 36.2 (21-of-58)
Opp. FG%: 37.1 (26-of-70)
3P%: 21.4 (6-of-28)
Opp. 3P%: 27.8 (5-of-18)
FT%: 76.0 (19-of-25)
Opp. FT%: 66.7 (4-of-6)
Points Per Possession: 0.985
Opponent Points Per Possession: 0.897
Rebounds: 47 (16 offensive)
Opponent Rebounds: 36 (12 offensive)
Turnovers: 18
Forced Turnovers: 10


Team Leaders

  • Halle Douglass: eight points (2-of-4 FG, 1-of-2 3P), five rebounds (three offensive), two assists, +8
  • Serah Williams: 27 points (10-of-17 FG), 15 rebounds (three offensive), five blocks, +8
  • Ronnie Porter: 14 points (4-of-10 FG, 0-of-3 3P), 12 rebounds (five offensive), eight assists, five steals +6 (played all but 16 seconds of the game)
  • Sania Copeland: seven points (2-of-12 FG, 2-of-10 3P), four rebounds (one offensive), four assists, +11

Illinois Team Leaders

  • Genesis Bryant: 14 points (5-of-10 FG, 3-of-6 3P), two rebounds (one offensive), four assists, two steals, -6
  • Adalia McKenzie: 13 points (6-of-14 FG), 10 rebounds (four offensive), three assists, -6

Three-ish Thoughts on the Wisconsin Badgers Women’s Basketball Team’s Win Over Illinois

1. Serah Williams was simply outstanding on Sunday afternoon. She looked every bit the best post player in the Big Ten that she has the potential of being while pouring in 27 points, corralling a career-high 15 rebounds, and swatting five shots against the Illini. Under normal circumstances she probably would’ve won B1G Player of the Week, but Caitlin Clark continued her War Against Me Personally and won it again. Williams was, however, named to the B1G Women’s Basketball Weekly Honor Roll along with Nebraska’s Alexis Markowski and Indiana’s Sydney Parrish.



Williams did more of her damage in the second half (17 points, nine rebounds) to keep the Illini from coming all the way back and stealing a win. She also helped keep Kendall Bostic from dominating the glass (Bostic was right at her season average) and held her below her season scoring average. Williams also made sure that Bostic, and backup big Camille Hobby, stayed in foul trouble throughout the contest.

It is becoming increasingly clear with each passing game this year that Williams’ ceiling at Wisconsin is higher than we thought even two months ago. With her on the court there are very few teams in the Big Ten that can confidently say they’ll beat UW.

2. D’Yanis Jimenez and Brooke Schramek, two regular starters, both missed the game. Per head coach Marisa Moseley on Monday morning, Jimenez (knee) is considered day-to-day and Schramek (illness) is most likely going to miss Wednesday’s game against Northwestern.



This is tough news for the Badgers, but of all the games this season to miss…the home game against Northwestern is probably the best one. The ‘Cats aren’t quite the team, especially on defense, they were a few years ago, but they have won three of their last five games so they aren’t just going to roll over.

3. A concern amongst Wisconsin fans, that has been one pretty much since Moseley took over, is that her rotations are very short. She doesn’t seem to trust enough of her players and, as such, her starters play a tremendous amount of minutes. Now, when you take two starters out of the equation via injury you’d think that the bench would see more action, right?

WRONG! No starter played fewer than 30 minutes on Sunday and only one bench player (true freshman Tessa Grady) played more than four. Hell, only seven players played at all (shoutout Ana Guillen’s 3:46 of playing time). These types of decisions have caused the Badgers to fade at the end of games before and, judging by their late-game field goal numbers, that probably happened again on Sunday, but UW was still able to gut out a win.

If Schramek and Jimenez have to miss much more time, Moseley might be forced to play some of her bench players but, until that point, she’ll be riding with the starters.

4. Ronnie Porter is a triple-double threat every night now. The shortest player on the court in just about every game she’ll play in her college career, Porter is a rebounding dynamo. Against Illinois, a solid rebounding team, the sophomore point guard hauled in 12 boards (five offensive) on the afternoon which boosted her season average to 7.4 per game (tied for seventh best in the B1G).



Porter always seems to find herself in the correct position for a rebound, which is paramount for a player of her stature. Two of the greatest rebounders in history, Dennis Rodman and Charles Barkley, were both 6-foot-7 or shorter and they would get all of their rebounds simply by being in better position than their taller opponents. Porter is doing something similar, but at an even greater height disadvantage.

Her passing and ball handling have also been excellent this season. She played 99.8% of the game against Illinois, had the ball in her hands on every possession, and still had a 2:1 assist to turnover ratio. Her eight assists also set a new career-high that I’d wager will be broken before the end of the month. She also notched five steals without picking up one personal foul! Incredible.


The only thing she has to work on is her long-range shooting (11-of-50, 22.0%) and her 73% free throw shooting gives me hope that her shot will come around. What a revelation she has been this season.

5. Over the final three minutes and eight seconds of the game, the Badgers did not make a single field goal. However, the free throw shooting was spot on. After Makira Cook made a shot to cut Wisconsin’s lead to 61-59, the Badgers made all six of their free throws in the last minute and, lo and behold, won by six points! Porter made four of them and Halle Douglass made the last two in front of a hostile road crowd and secured Wisconsin’s first Big Ten win of the season.

The Badgers made 19-of-25 (76%) on the game and boosted their season free throw shooting to 70.7%. That is still the lowest mark of Moseley’s tenure, but it’s still above average nationally and was crucial in this game because the three-ball wasn’t falling for, well, anyone on the team.

Final Thought

This was a much-needed win for the Badgers. I don’t think it was a “must win” game, but whatever the step just below “must win” is? Yeah, that’s what Sunday’s game was for Wisconsin. UW lost a heartbreaker at home to Nebraska in their previous game and had their doors blown off by Purdue the game before that. Combine those two losses with a loss to Iowa earlier in the year and the Badgers were staring down the barrel of an 0-4 Big Ten start.

UW had started 0-4 in the Big Ten in each of Moseley’s first two seasons and while I doubt she’d admit it, I’m sure that was in the back of her mind against Illinois. The team has shown marked improvements in many areas, but ultimately wins and losses are what define a team and their head coach.


A performance like Sunday afternoon’s is one that Wisconsin and Moseley can point to as a season-defining one. They went on the road, down 40% of their starting lineup, and beat an Illinois team who had beaten the Badgers four of the last five times they’d played. With a winnable game coming up against Northwestern, Wisconsin can insert themselves right back into the middle of the conference pack with a victory over the ‘Cats.

While a postseason bid still seems unlikely for this squad, they have proved that they are worth your time by showing zero quit, no matter the scenario. I know that Wisconsin (the women’s basketball program) hasn’t been good for a long time, but I also know that Wisconsin (the state) loves basketball and loves women’s sports so it would be pretty cool to see a big crowd at the Kohl Center on Wednesday to cheer the Badgers on to victory.

Next Game: Wednesday, Jan. 10; vs. Northwestern Wildcats; 6:30 p.m. CT; B1G+; Kohl Center

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Drew Hamm is a seasoned sports journalist with an extensive background in covering the Wisconsin Badgers. He has previously held positions as the site manager at Bucky's 5th Quarter and founder of Badgers Ball Knower. Currently, he contributes as a staff writer for BadgerNotes.com.

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