Marquette 69  Wisconsin 65

Miss Manners would have been so pleased with the Wisconsin-Marquette game.  It was oh, so civil.  The host Golden Eagles politely offered Wisconsin outside shot after outside shot.  The equally polite Badgers declined nicely.  The officials, wanting to make sure that no one felt slighted, called a held ball whenever two hands got in close proximity to the ball.

In a game that may have been civil, but wasn't pretty, Wisconsin's egos, which had been bruised by the orange bunch from Tennessee, picked up a few more bruises.

Marquette won the game with defense and the Borgs.  Defensively, they played mainly zones.  Wisconsin spent the first half looking like they had never seen a zone before.  They passed into the middle of it.  They drove into it.  They forced shots through it.  But they didn't do anything that would be effective against it.

The Badgers best offense came in the form of Tamara Moore, who had one of her best games in a Wisconsin uniform.  The first 15 minutes of the game, Wisconsin simply looked lost.

Fortunately for Badger fans, Marquette also struggled.  The Badger defense held the Golden Eagle offense in check as both teams struggled to score.  Marquette was not able to get easy shots and missed most of the ones they got.  They shot only 35% for the first half.

With five minutes to play in the half, Wisconsin freshman Candas Smith hit a wide open three point shot then LaTonya Sims drove and kicked the ball out to a wide open Moore for another three.  From that point on, Wisconsin played somewhat better against the zone, although their play never approached acceptable.

The Wisconsin run let them go in only trailing by one at half. 

Both teams played better in the second half.  Wisconsin still was unable to get the ball to its post players, but Moore's shooting kept them in the game.  Marquette's post players Abby Willenborg and Lisa Oldenburg came to life.

The teams played evenly until Wisconsin realized that it had not committed its normal turn-over quota and gave the ball up on six consecutive possessions.  The resulting 10-0 Marquette run gave them their biggest lead of the game, 55-46.

Moore hit two threes to cut the lead, but Wisconsin was never able to tie the game or go ahead.  They remained unable to get the ball in the hands of either Nina Smith or Stomski and LaTonya Sims suffered through the worst shooting night of her career, as she went 4-18 from the field.

Whenever Marquette needed a basket they went to Oldenburg and she answered.  She was 8 for 14 from the field enroute to 25 points and she killed Wisconsin with 15 rebounds.  Her partner in crime, Willenborg,  was 6-12 for 19 points.

Down the stretch, Wisconsin was forced to foul and Marquette hit their free throws.  Sims had a short shot to tie the game with 9 seconds left, but it did what the vast majority of her shots did and hit the front of the rim. 

Wisconsin was outrebounded by 8 and had 23 turnovers.  Nina Smith was only able to get off 4 shots, but she grabbed 11 rebounds.  She also had to have minor surgery after the game.  She had to have a Marquette player removed from her arm, but she is not expected to miss any time.

Tamara Moore led Wisconsin with 24 points.  She single-handedly kept Bucky in the game for much of the time.  Sims had 13 and Stomski 11.  Freshman Candas Smith continues to impress at point.  Her line was not impressive but the team clearly functions better when she is on the court.

 

OFFICIAL BASKETBALL BOX SCORE -- G A M E   T O T A L S                          

WISCONSIN vs MARQUETTE UNIVERSITY                                               

12/8/99 7:00 PM at Milwaukee Arena - Milwaukee, WI                              

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VISITORS: WISCONSIN                                                             

                          TOT-FG  3-PT         REBOUNDS                         

No.     N A M E           FG FGA FG FGA FT FTA OF DE TOT PF  TP   A TO BLK S MIN

25 SIMS, LaTONYA        f  4 18   0  2   5  6   2  1  3   4  13   2  5  2  2  33

41 STOMSKI, JESSIE      f  4  9   0  0   3  6   3  3  6   4  11   0  5  0  0  32

55 SMITH, NINA          c  4  4   0  0   0  0   3  8 11   3   8   1  0  0  2  29

14 PAULUS, KELLEY       g  1  6   0  2   0  0   0  1  1   2   2   0  4  0  2  15

24 PATE, DEE DEE        g  1  2   0  1   0  0   0  2  2   4   2   7  3  0  1  22

01 SMITH, CANDAS           1  2   1  1   0  0   0  0  0   0   3   0  1  0  1  16

30 MOORE, TAMARA           9 13   3  5   3  3   0  2  2   2  24   2  4  2  2  27

32 BLACK, KYLE             0  1   0  0   0  0   0  0  0   0   0   0  1  0  1   7

45 BIRD, KRISTA            0  0   0  0   0  0   0  1  1   1   0   0  0  1  0   8

54 KONIECZNY, MISSY        1  1   0  0   0  0   0  0  0   2   2   0  0  0  1  11

TEAM ........................................   2  3  5                         

TOTALS                    25 56   4 11  11 15  10 21 31  22  65  12 23  5 12 200

                                                                                

TOTAL FG% 1st Half:  0- 0  .000   2nd Half: 25-56  .446   Game:  .446   DEADBALL

3-Pt. FG% 1st Half:  0- 0  .000   2nd Half:  4-11  .364   Game:  .364   REBOUNDS

F Throw % 1st Half:  0- 0  .000   2nd Half: 11-15  .733   Game:  .733      2, 4 

                                                                                

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HOME TEAM: MARQUETTE UNIVERSITY                                                 

                          TOT-FG  3-PT         REBOUNDS                         

No.     N A M E           FG FGA FG FGA FT FTA OF DE TOT PF  TP   A TO BLK S MIN

40 OLDENBURG, LISA      f  8 14   0  2   9 12   6  9 15   4  25   2  3  2  1  37

41 BOWMAN, HEIDI        f  5 15   0  4   2  3   3  4  7   2  12   4  0  1  6  34

34 WILLENBORG, ABBIE    c  6 12   0  2   7  8   0  2  2   3  19   0  4  1  4  29

13 JOHNSON, KRISTI      g  2  5   0  3   2  2   1  1  2   1   6   6  1  0  3  34

24 OLIVER, KEISHA       g  1  8   0  3   1  2   1  2  3   3   3   2  3  0  1  31

14 GALES, RASHIDA          0  1   0  0   0  0   1  1  2   0   0   0  1  0  0   4

33 WILLIAMS, EBONY         0  1   0  0   0  0   1  1  2   0   0   2  3  0  0   9

44 SEFFERN, KRISTIN        0  3   0  1   0  0   0  1  1   1   0   0  0  0  0   7

52 ZAWODNY, SARAH          2  3   0  0   0  0   1  0  1   2   4   0  1  0  1  15

TEAM ........................................   2  2  4                         

TOTALS                    24 62   0 15  21 27  16 23 39  16  69  16 16  4 16 200

                                                                                

TOTAL FG% 1st Half:  0- 0  .000   2nd Half: 24-62  .387   Game:  .387   DEADBALL

3-Pt. FG% 1st Half:  0- 0  .000   2nd Half:  0-15  .000   Game:  .000   REBOUNDS

F Throw % 1st Half:  0- 0  .000   2nd Half: 21-27  .778   Game:  .778      3    

                                                                                

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OFFICIALS:   Scott Yarbrough, Joe Cunningham, Don Green                         

TECHNICAL FOULS:                                                                

WISCONSIN                     -  none                                           

MARQUETTE UNIVERSITY          -  none                                           

ATTENDANCE:  2508                                                               

SCORE BY PERIODS:                  1st  2nd  OT1  OT2  OT3  OT4   TOTAL         

WISCONSIN                           29   36                          65         

MARQUETTE UNIVERSITY                30   39                          69         

                                                                                

Attendance is the fifth-best MU home crowd.