Hawkeye women defeat Badgers in overtime, 68-60

MADISON Wis. - As Iowa's Kachine Alexander stretched on the Kohl Center floor before Sunday's regular-season against Wisconsin, she has a message for Hawkeye Radio Network play-by-play man Brent Balbinot.

“We ain't gonna lose.”

It took five extra minutes, but Alexander's prophecy came to pass. On her 21st birthday, the 5-foot-9 junior scored 19 points and hauled down 14 rebounds as the Hawkeyes outlasted the Badgers, 68-60 in overtime, before 11,369 fans, a record number for a Wisconsin women's game.

The victory pushed Iowa to 17-12 overall, 10-8 in the Big Ten. After starting league play 1-6, the Hawkeyes won nine of their final 11 to finish in a third-place tie with Wisconsin (20-9, 10-8) behind champion Ohio State and Michigan State. Iowa beat the Badgers twice and will be the third seed at this week's Big Ten Tournament in Indianapolis.

The Hawkeyes will play in the quarterfinals on Friday at approximately 1 p.m. against the winner of Thursday's first-round game between No. 6 seed Penn State and No. 11 seed Minnesota.

“I'm just so proud of these women and what we've accomplished this year,” Bluder said. “To go from 11th in this conference about seven weeks ago to finishing tied for third is amazing.”

Iowa took control of the game late in the first half. With the game tied at 21-21, Iowa scored the final 12 points of the half, capped by an Alexander 3-point basket just before the buzzer.

As they did in the first meeting on Dec. 31 in Iowa City, the Badgers came alive in the second half. They tied the game at 50-50 on a lay-in from Tara Steinbauer. The Hawkeyes took a 56-50 lead on a 3-point basket from Kamille Wahlin and another trey Jaime Printy with 2:17 remaining.

But the Badgers scored the final six points of regulation, capped by two free throws from Anya Covington with 19 seconds remaining. Printy's shot to win with five seconds left fell short, forcing overtime.

Wisconsin scored first in the overtime, but a pair of free throws from freshman Gabby Machado tied the score at 58. Iowa took the lead for good on a Wahlin jumper with 2:04 remaining and Wahlin's 3-point basket with the shot clock running down at the 35-second mark sealed the victory. The sophomore point guard led Iowa with 20 points.

“We kept our composure in the overtime,” Bluder said. “This was our first overtime win of the year and it couldn't have come at a better time for us.”

Wisconsin Coach Lisa Stone, who played at Iowa in the 1980s, was pleased by the way her team fought back in the second half, but was quick to praise the Iowa effort.

“They made some tough shots,” Stone said “Wahlin's last shot (in overtime), I have no idea how she got that shot off, but it went in ... I give Iowa a ton of credit. They played really well.”

Senior Rae Lin D'Alie led the Badgers with 15 points. Covington had 11 points and 12 rebounds in 30 minutes off the bench.