MADISON — A 12-point first-quarter deficit couldn’t keep down the Wisconsin women’s basketball team. Neither did a close call during the final seconds.
The Badgers scored their most impressive win of the young season on Sunday, Nov. 16, with a 76-72 victory over UW-Green Bay at the Kohl Center. This matchup marked the first meeting between the teams since Dec. 14, 2022, and it was the Badgers’ first victory over the Phoenix since Dec. 15, 2016.
Green Bay, the preseason favorite to win the Horizon League according to a poll of the conference’s coaches, had entered the game with a four-game winning streak against Wisconsin.
Graduate guard Destiny Howell led Wisconsin (4-1) in scoring for the second time this season, posting 23 points on 8-for-15 shooting. Junior guards Breauna Ware and Kyrah Daniels added 12 and 11 points, respectively.
For Green Bay (4-1), redshirt sophomore forward Meghan Schultz, a New Berlin West graduate, scored 22 points. Senior guard Kamy Peppler contributed 15 points.
The Phoenix trailed by as many as 10 points in the fourth quarter. With 2 minutes and 13 seconds remaining, the Badgers held a nine-point lead. However, Green Bay responded with six straight points over the next 90 seconds, cutting UW’s advantage to 75-72 with 42 seconds left.
Green Bay then set up a shot for guard Julianna Ouimette to tie the game, but the Phoenix redshirt freshman missed a 3-point attempt from the wing with just 7 seconds on the clock.
Howell then sealed the win by sinking the first of two free throws with 4 seconds left.
“I have a lot of respect for Green Bay’s program. They’ve been awfully good for a lot of years and just a well-oiled machine,” Wisconsin coach Robin Pingeton said. “We knew it would be a battle tonight. I’m proud of the way our girls competed. We had to fight, you know, coming back from behind.”
### Three Takeaways from the Win
**Breauna Ware Leads Strong Showing for UW Bench**
The Badgers dominated the bench scoring battle, outscoring Green Bay 29-8. Ware set the tone — not just with her scoring but with her overall floor game.
Despite making just one of four shots in the second quarter, Ware made a significant impact with three rebounds, two steals, and one assist during the 6 minutes and 53 seconds she played that quarter. Wisconsin outscored Green Bay by 10 points during that stretch.
Many of Ware’s plays did not directly lead to points but raised the team’s energy, particularly as Wisconsin employed full-court pressure to shift the momentum.
Most of her points came in the fourth quarter when she drove through defenders, sank three consecutive free throws after drawing a foul on a three-point attempt, and assisted on three-pointers made by Howell and graduate Shay Bollin early in the quarter.
“She’s a pretty passionate young lady, plays with a lot of emotion,” Pingeton said. “She did a great job getting to the free throw line and converting. Defensively, I felt like she had some good deflections. I thought it was a really, really good game for us tonight. I was really proud of the way she responded.”
**Fourth-Quarter Efficiency Was Key for the Badgers**
Wisconsin’s offense peaked in the fourth quarter, scoring on eight of its first ten possessions to extend a 51-50 lead to 71-61 with 5:15 remaining.
Coach Pingeton tightened her rotation, relying primarily on six players in the final quarter: Breauna Ware, Shay Bollin, senior Ronnie Porter, junior Kyrah Daniels, junior Laci Steele, and Howell.
The Badgers shot 9-for-16 (56.3%) from the field in that period.
“I think we were just moving the ball well, capitalizing on times that they were guarding us a certain way and just starting to adjust to the flow of the game a lot better in the fourth quarter,” Howell said. “We had some quarters to understand what they were doing, and I think that just came down to us executing.”
**Destiny Howell Continues to Shine**
Howell demonstrated the versatility of her game, finishing several post-up situations in addition to her usual 3-pointers and mid-range drives.
Her performance on Sunday improved her season average to 15.2 points per game, with a 47.5% shooting percentage—already surpassing her best season at Howard.
“I just think her calmness, her poise is really, really important for our team,” Pingeton said. “Rarely does she get sped up. I think she’s a young lady that’s got an opportunity to really have a special season for us.”
https://sports.yahoo.com/article/destiny-howell-breauna-ware-help-010823497.html
