The Wisconsin Badgers women’s basketball squad was eliminated in the first round of the Big Ten Tournament with an 82-70 loss to the Illinois Fighting Illini. Wisconsin dug itself into a hole down 23-17 after the first quarter and could never get over the hump the rest of the way. The Badgers were led by Gift Uchenna’s career-high 24 points on 10-of-16 shots from the floor. Unfortunately, the Badgers committed 19 turnovers, which the Illini scored 24 points off.
Despite their 13-17 record, the Badgers may still reach postseason play—a rare feat in the last fifteen seasons.
The WNIT is still in play for the Wisconsin Badgers.
According to Omni Rankings, a website founded by Matt Olson that produces ratings and projections based on “mathematical models gauging the current strength of each team,” the Wisconsin Badgers have an extraordinarily high probability of making the WNIT. In fact, the Badgers have the fourth-highest percentage odds of winning the entire tournament.
Two years ago, Wisconsin reached the WNIT in Marisa Moseley’s third season, finishing the regular season 13-16 and 6-13 in Big Ten play. In the WNIT, they beat Southern Indiana and Illinois State before losing to Saint Louis in the Great 8.
When Robin Pingeton was hired by Wisconsin, the thought of playing any postseason basketball sounded like a pipe dream. However, with ranked wins over no. 20 Michigan State and no. 24 Nebraska, optimism began to brew for the women’s basketball program. It was welcomed energy after the ugly fallout after Moseley’s resignation last year.
Obviously, losing 10 straight games to end the regular season is unacceptable for any program, but this season was not going to be judged by the win-loss column. A trip to the WNIT would be a positive step forward for a women’s basketball program like Wisconsin’s that desperately needs momentum for the future.