Jan. 19, 2003

Box Score

One week after Illinois topped the Badgers 73-56 in Champaign, Wisconsin returned the favor in Madison with a 69-59 win over the Illini in front of 7,778 fans at the Kohl Center. The game was tied at 33 at the half, but the Badgers used a huge advantage on the glass to take control of the game in the final 20 minutes. The loss dropped the Illini to 11-4 overall and 3-2 in the Big Ten, while Wisconsin improved to 3-12 overall and 1-4 in the conference.

The two teams went back and forth for most of the first half. Wisconsin jumped out to a 17-9 lead in the first seven minutes, but the Illini responded with a 14-0 run to take a 23-17 lead. Jere' Issenmann scored the final seven points of the run with a pair of three-pointers and a free throw. The Badgers battled back to knot the game at 33-33 going into the break.

In the second half, Wisconsin used three big runs of 8-0, 10-0 and 13-1 to pull away from the Illini and pull off the upset. The first came with Illinois up 38-33 at the 17:17 mark of the second. The 8-0 run put the Badgers up 41-38 with 14:44 left to play. After the Illini battled back to take a 49-43 lead, the Badgers went on a 10-0 run to regain the lead at 53-49 with just over seven minutes remaining.

The last Badger run finally put the Illini away. With the game tied at 56-56 and five minutes left to play, the Badgers would score 13 of the next 14 points to seal the victory. Wisconsin made nine of 10 free throws down the stretch and the Illini missed their last five shots to set the final score at 69-59.

Aminata Yanni led the way for the Orange and Blue with 17 points on 6-9 shooting. Jere' Issenmann was the only other Illini in double figures. She finished with 10 points.

The Badgers dominated the glass by out-rebounding the Illini 45-21 for the game and 26-9 in the second half. Karen Hagberg led Illinois on the boards with seven, while Lello Gebisa and Kristi Seeger pulled down 12 and 11 respectively for the Badgers. Poor free throw shooting also hurt the Illini as they went 8-15 (53.3%) from the charity stripe.

Illinois returns to action on Jan. 23 when they travel to Ohio State to take on the Buckeyes. The Illini return home on Jan. 26 when they will try to avenge on earlier loss to the Minnesota Golden Gophers.