Wisconsin Women’s Basketball Defeats Boston College in Fort Meyers

The Wisconsin Badgers women’s basketball team finished up their Fort Myers Tip-Off tournament with a double-digit win over Boston College.

Wisconsin poured it on in the fourth quarter to run away from the Eagles and end their time in Florida with a 1-1 record. Here is the full recap:

Final Score

Wisconsin Badgers (4-2 overall, 0-0 Big Ten): 82

Boston College Eagles (3-4 overall, 0-0 ACC): 72

Four Factors

eFG%: 62.5

Turnover%: 25.0

Off. Rebound%: 19.2

FTA/FGA: 23.2

Key Stats

FG%: 53.6 (30-of-56)
Opp. FG%: 38.5 (25-of-65)
3P%: 45.5 (10-of-22)
Opp. 3P%: 18.8 (3-of-16)
FT%: 92.3 (12-of-13)
Opp. FT%: 79.2 (19-of-24)
Points Per Possession: 1.079
Opponent Points Per Possession: 0.947
Rebounds: 34 (five offensive)
Opponent Rebounds: 36 (15 offensive)
Turnovers: 19
Forced Turnovers: 17

NAT with the equalizer. She has yet to miss a shot this game! pic.twitter.com/WdrtR78uPQ

— Wisconsin Women’s Basketball (@BadgerWBB) November 26, 2023

Wisconsin Women’s Basketball Team Leaders

• Serah Williams: 18 points (7-of-10 FG), eight rebounds (one offensive), one assist, five blocks, two steals, +21
• Natalie Leuzinger: 14 points (5-of-6 FG, 2-of-3 3P), six rebounds (one offensive), five assists, one steal, +1
• Brooke Schramek: 13 points (5-of-10 FG, 3-of-4 3P), seven rebounds, five assists, one steal, +17
• Sania Copeland: 18 points (6-of-13 FG, 4-of-10 3P), two rebounds, three assists, two steals, +7

Boston College Team Leaders

• Andrea Daley: 21 points (8-of-17 FG, 1-of-1 3P), seven rebounds (four offensive), -6
• Kaylah Ivey: five points (2-of-6 FG, 1-of-3 3P), four rebounds (one offensive), nine assists, three steals, -6

Three Thoughts on the Wisconsin Badgers Women’s Basketball Team 

1. Really nice ball movement from the Badgers in this one. They had three players with five-plus assists (Ronnie Porter had eight) and always seemed to find an open teammate when needed. So far this season, Wisconsin has an assisted shot rate of 65.0% which is the 27th best in the whole country!
   
   The Badgers don’t have too many players that can create their own shot and get to the rim, so being able to pass smartly will be key for them to generate offense. So far, so good I’d say! UW’s offense has been above average this season and a main reason for that has been their superior passing ability.

2. I really like what freshman Leena Patibandla brings to the table. She isn’t ready to be a full-time rotation player yet, but she has all the makings of one who will be a contributor for the next three years. Against BC, she had seven points (3-of-3 FG, 1-of-1 3P), one rebound, one assist, and one steal in 14 minutes. She was also the only bench player to have a positive plus/minus (+6) on the game.

LEEEEEEENAAAAAA!

That’s three for the Freshman! pic.twitter.com/gYKfKY3ke0

— Wisconsin Women’s Basketball (@BadgerWBB) November 26, 2023

Patibandla is an excellent athlete. She was All-County in basketball, volleyball, and track & field in high school and many thought that her college sport of choice would be volleyball, not hoops. She has good length for a guard which allows her to be disruptive on defense and she can also use her size to overpower smaller guards when she’s on offense.

I hope she continues to receive playing time moving forward even after Lily Krahn and Halle Douglass are healthy enough to play because it will kick start her development and have her more ready to contribute as a sophomore.

3. There were many times last season where Wisconsin had a lead, or a small deficit, in the final quarter and ended up running out of steam and losing. Playing their second game in as many days, I was worried this exact scenario was going to play out on Saturday night. Hell, I even tweeted that Wisconsin looked like they had tired legs in the second quarter because shots were coming up short.

Well…basically the opposite happened. The Eagles entered the fourth quarter with a two-point lead which quickly turned into a four-point Wisconsin advantage after the Badgers started off the period with an 8-2 run. BC then started to make hay at the foul line, getting their lead back briefly, before a Patibandla three-pointer with 6:07 left gave the Badgers a lead they would never relinquish.

This was a great way for UW to end their trip down to Florida and showed that this team can punch back…and then keep punching until they win. It’s also a great job by Marisa Moseley and staff to have the team ready/able to do this 24 hours after the tough loss to Arkansas.

1. BONUS THOUGHT: Where was D’Yanis Jimenez? She didn’t play at all in this game and I couldn’t find anything online about her absence. Hopefully she isn’t hurt, but winning this game without her in the lineup makes it all the more impressive.
2. BONUS THOUGHT NO. 2: Not having a serviceable backup big behind Serah Williams is going to kill UW all season. When she was out of the lineup, BC pounded the ball inside and got easy looks at the rim. The Big Ten has a number of excellent bigs who will feast on the Badgers when they have to take Williams out of the game.

Final Thoughts on Wisconsin Women’s Basketball 

Wisconsin women’s basketball leaves Florida after splitting their two games at the Fort Myers Tip-Off and heads back to Madison with a 4-2 record. They also now have an undefeated record against Boston College (3-0) all-time! With three of their next four games being winnable (while I’d love to predict a Wisconsin upset over Iowa…that just ain’t happening), the Badgers are looking at a really nice start to the season.

Against Boston College their defense was really solid again. The Eagles shot below 40% from the field and below 20% from beyond the arc while also turning the ball over 17 times. UW’s Her Hoops Stats defensive rating is 87.3 (109th in the country) which is actually better than their offensive rating (110th in the country)! I would not have expected that six games into the season.

And that’s not even saying the offense is “bad” or anything! The Badgers have been shooting well this year and on Saturday they shot INCREDIBLY well. You rarely see a team go 50/40/90 on shooting splits in a game but that’s what UW just did against the Eagles. They are in the top-100 on the season (93rd and 53rd) in FG% and 3P% and their eFG% of 49.9 is 70th best in the land.

MONEY!

Copeland’s on fire. That’s another three!!! pic.twitter.com/xXf8ceSajb

— Wisconsin Women’s Basketball (@BadgerWBB) November 26, 2023

Yes, there are still issues. They have been giving up too many offensive rebounds recently and they barely get any of their own. They still turn the ball over too much (currently the worst turnover rate in any of Moseley’s three seasons), but they are also forcing more turnovers. And they’ve been doing it against a tough schedule too!

Per Warren Nolan’s Live RPI page, the Badgers have the 14th best RPI while playing the 8th toughest schedule in the country! Sure, Wisconsin has lost to the two best teams they’ve played, but the start to this season has gone about as well as it possibly could.

Next Game: Wednesday, Nov. 29; vs. Northern Illinois; 6:30 p.m. CT; B1G+; Kohl Center