BADGERS DELIVER MORE OT MAGIC

NO. 24 HUSKERS TUMBLE AT HOME

Madison Capital Times

Madison, Wis.

Nov 22, 1999

Authors: Staff/news services

Dateline: LINCOLN, NEB.

The University of Wisconsin women's basketball team doesn't mind working

overtime. That's because the payoff is almost always very good.

The Badgers overcame 35 turnovers and foul trouble by freshman center Nina

Smith to defeat No. 24 Nebraska, 92-85, in overtime Sunday in the championship

game of the Time Warner Classic here at the Bob Devaney Sports Center.

"If we can get you to overtime, we've had a lot of practice with that,"

said UW coach Jane Albright, whose team was 5-1 in OT games last season.

"I don't have to say a lot to my team. They compete, they know what to

do."

The defeat was just the third at home for the Cornhuskers (1-1) in coach

Paul Sanderford's three years at Nebraska.

"I've been coaching a long time, and this win here is as big a win as this

program has ever known," Albright said. "Beating a ranked team on the road,

we've never done that."

Wisconsin (2-0) led by as many as eight points in the second half, but

saw a four-point lead disappear in the final 34 seconds of regulation.

The Badgers started overtime with a 7-0 run and never let the Cornhuskers,

who had 32 turnovers, get closer than five the rest of the way. Wisconsin

hit 15 of 18 free throws in overtime.

Nebraska's Nicole Kubik made two free throws to cut Wisconsin's lead to

68-66 with 34 seconds left in regulation. She then stole the ball and hit

Casey Leonhardt for a layup that tied it with 21 seconds remaining. UW's

Tamara Moore missed a desperation 30-footer at the buzzer.

Sophomore forward Jessie Stomski led the Badgers with 24 points, including

six in overtime, and grabbed 14 rebounds, matching her career high. Moore

scored 18 points and senior guard Kelley Paulus added 17. Sophomore forward

LaTonya Sims had 14 and Smith finished with 10.

Nebraska's Brooke Schwartz scored a career-high 25 and Kubik added 16.

Smith picked up three fouls in the first six minutes and eventually fouled

out of her second straight game with 34.7 seconds left in regulation.

Wisconsin held Nebraska scoreless for a 5-minute stretch in the first half

and took a 33-26 halftime lead.

"We really felt like in the first half, our defensive effort to keep them

to 37 percent (shooting) was the key to the game," Albright said. "It was

a great team defense.

"If we're going to turn the ball over 35 times, we've got to be able to

force a lot of turnovers."

Nebraska used a 10-0 run capped by Charlie Rogers' 6-foot jumper with 3:16

left to take a 60-58 lead. Sims' 18-footer tied the score on Wisconsin's

next possession.

"Every time we made a move, every time it looked like we got momentum,

they made the play," Sanderford said. "They answered every time. Tying

it in regulation was a minor miracle. Then, we come back in overtime and

don't make the defensive plays."

Stomski was named tournament most valuable player and was joined on the

all-tournament team by Paulus, Rogers, Danna Simpson of Georgia Southern

and Melaniece Bardley of Southern Illinois.

"We've been in tough situations before," Paulus said, "and it says a lot

about our character to be able to (hold) our composure and to be able to

compete and do well, especially in a hostile environment like it is here."

The way the Badgers won left Albright shaking her head.

"I guess I'm not really that smart of a coach because I told them turnovers

would be a key," she said. "I know it's the first time I've coached a 35-turnover

game and we won.

"I thought we needed to outrebound them and we needed to get more shots

off. They got 68 shots off (to 60 for UW), we didn't outrebound them and

we turned the ball over.

"I shouldn't talk to them, I should just let them play."

WISCONSIN min fg fga ft fta reb pf a pt Sims 29 5 11 3 4 6 3 0 14 Stomski

44 8 13 7 8 14 3 5 24 N. Smith 24 5 7 0 1 6 5 0 10 Paulus 36 5 14 5 6 1

1 1 17 Pate 33 2 4 0 1 2 5 5 4 C. Smith 4 0 0 0 0 0 2 1 0 Hefte 9 0 1 0

0 1 0 0 0 Moore 28 3 7 10 14 5 4 3 18 Bird 5 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 Konieczny

13 2 2 1 2 1 0 1 5 Totals 200 30 60 26 36 39 23 16 92

NEBRASKA min fg fga ft fta reb pf a pt Rogers 30 7 12 0 0 10 5 0 14 Gilmore

35 2 3 4 6 1 3 0 8 Leonhardt 28 5 9 0 1 6 4 0 10 Schwartz 41 10 16 3 3

4 2 4 25 Kubik 37 4 17 8 11 1 5 9 16 Jaracz 7 1 2 1 2 3 2 0 3 Kelly 6 0

0 0 1 1 0 0 0 Went 22 2 5 0 0 2 4 4 4 Roberts 2 1 2 0 0 1 0 1 3 Jones 13

0 1 2 4 5 3 0 2 Sutton 4 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 Totals 200 32 68 18 28 39 28 18

85

Rebounding totals include team rebounds Wisconsin 333524-92 Nebraska 264217-85

Three-point goals - Wisconsin 6-14 (Moore 2-5, Paulus 2-6, Sims 1- 1, Stomski

1-1, Hefte 0-1), Nebraska 3-10 (Schwartz 2-3, Roberts 1- 2, Went 0-1, Jaracz

0-1, Kubik 0-3). Field-goal percentages - Wisconsin .500, Nebraska .471.

Free-throw percentages - Wisconsin .722, Nebraska .643. Turnovers - Wisconsin

35, Nebraska 32. Att. - 2,479.