Lincoln, Neb. -- Wisconsin had a rude awakening on the road Friday night, but senior Kelley Paulus came off the bench to lead a strong second-half performance and the Badgers recovered from a 10-point halftime deficit to beat Southern Illinois, 66-58, at the Nebraska Invitational.
SIU quickly took a 6-2 lead to open the game, but Wisconsin responded with a 10-2 run of its own to take a 12-8 advantage with 12 minutes 53 seconds left in the first half.
Forward Jessie Stomski had four of her game-high 15 points in that span.
The Salukis responded by out-hustling and out-scoring the Badgers, 24-8, over the next 10 minutes to take a 30-18 lead.
Wisconsin recovered to cut the lead to ten points, 32-22, at halftime. The Badgers shot just 34.5% and committed ten turnovers while being out-rebounded by 19-16 in the half.
But then the tide turned.
On the strength of their 77% second-half field-goal shooting, the Badgers took charge in the second half.
Paulus came off the bench to score 11 of her 14 points over the last 10 minutes of the game as the Badgers put away the game with an 18-8 run that pushed the lead to 58-49 with 3:30 to go.
"I was not pleased with our first-half effort individually or as a team," said Wisconsin coach Jessie Stomski. "I really feel we were out-worked.
"They had a lot more intensity, and I let our players know how I felt at halftime. Fortunately, we came back out and played like the team we can be."
LaTonya Sims added 13 points and a team-high seven rebounds.
Center Melaniece Bardley led the Salukis with a 13 points and eight rebounds, and guard Molly McDowell added 12 points.
The Badgers advance to the finals of the tournament and will play the winner of the Nebraska-Georgia Southern game at 3 p.m. Sunday.