Marquette University
Wisconsin
Women's Basketball Tops Wisconsin Again
12/8/1999 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Dec. 8, 1999
MILWAUKEE - The Marquette women?s basketball team won its sixth consecutive game in dramatic fashion tonight, defeating cross-state rival Wisconsin 69-65. Senior Lisa Oldenburg led the Golden Eagles? second straight win over the Badgers with 25 points and 15 rebounds, her second double-double of the season. Marquette improves to 7-1, its best start ever, while Wisconsin falls to 4-3.
?It?s our third game in five days, but we had no problem getting up for this game,? Marquette head coach Terri Mitchell said. ?We?re kind of passionate about this one. There?s an extra something about the rivalry in state. The crowd got behind us and our senior leadership took over. The seniors were outstanding.?
A back-and-forth first half ended with Marquette up by one, 30-29. Marquette?s one-two punch of Oldenburg and Abbie Willenborg shouldered the load, combining for 22 of MU?s points and going right at Wisconsin?s imposing frontline of 6-3 LaTonya Sims, 6-3 Jessie Stomski and 6-4 Nina Smith. The Golden Eagles established early dominance on the boards and forced 12 first-half turnovers. However, sophomore Tamara Moore stepped up to keep the Badgers close, coming off the bench for 11 first-half points.
It was more of the same in the second half. Moore wound up with 24 points, but the Wisconsin frontcourt had trouble getting on track. The three starters, who normally contribute 43.7 points per game, combined for only 32. Sims was bottled up by some tight defense from a number of Golden Eagles and scored 13 points on 4 18 shooting. Smith hit all of her shots, but took only four. On the other side, Marquette?s frontline turned in its best performance of the early season, offensively. Heidi Bowman broke a season-long slump with 12 points, seven boards, four assists and six steals, and set the tone for the second half with some inspired play on the boards and on the defensive end of the floor early in the second frame. Oldenburg?s 25 points came on 8-14 shooting, while Willenborg went 7-8 from the charity stripe and tossed in 19 points.
?We went in with great respect for their inside game and decided to play off their perimeter players and pack it in,? Mitchell said. ?Tamara Moore played outstanding, and started to hit some outside shots, but for the most part our strategy worked.?
Besides Moore, the Badgers? backcourt went 3-10 for seven points. Wisconsin also committed 23 turnovers. While Marquette only turned the ball over 16 times, the Golden Eagles were held without a three pointe for the first time in 193 games.
The Golden Eagles are hit the road for their final 1999 away game this coming Saturday, Dec. 11, when they take on Syracuse at 1 p.m. (CT) in the Orangewomen?s Manley Field House.
MARQUETTE 69, WISCONSIN 65
WISCONSIN (4-3) Sims 4-18 5-6 13, Stomski 4-9 3-6 11, N. Smith 4-4 0-0 8, Paulus 1-6 0-0 2, Pate 1-2 0-0 2, C. Smith 1-2 0-0 3, Moore 9-13 3-3 24, Black 0-1 0-0 0, Bird 0-0 0-0 0, Konieczny 1-1 0-0 2. Totals 25-56 11-15 65.
MARQUETTE (7-1) Oldenburg 8-14 9-12 25, Bowman 5-15 2-3 12, Willenborg 6-12 7-8 19, Johnson 2-5 2-2 6, Oliver 1-8 1-2 3, Gales 0-1 0-0 0, Williams 0-1 0-0 0, Seffern 0-3 0-0 0, Zawodny 2-3 0-0 4. Totals 24-62 21-27 69.
Halftime_ Marquette 30, Wisconsin 29. 3-point goals_Wisconsin 4-11 (Sims 0-2, Paulus 0-2, Pate 0-1, C. Smith 1 1, Moore 3-5), Marquette 0-15 (Oldenburg 0-2, Bowman 0-4, Willenborg 0-2, Johnson 0-3, Oliver 0-3, Seffern 0 1). Rebounds_Wisconsin 31 (Smith 11), Marquette 39 (Oldenburg 15). Assists_Wisconsin 12 (Pate 7), Marquette 16 (Johnson 6). Turnovers_Wisconsin 23, Marquette 16. Fouled out_None. Total fouls_Wisconsin 22, Marquette 16. Att_2,508.
