RON MALY HAS BEEN WATCHING THE PARADE GO BY FOR A LONG TIME. THIS IS ONE OF HIS WEBSITES.

Sunday, November 10, 2013

Drake's Women Not Ready for Prime-Time Yet: Starters Go 6-for-34 from the Field, Team 14-for-54 In 66-41 Loss At Wisconsin. 'You Almost Want To Apologize,' Says Jennie Baranczyk

Wisconsin's women's basketball team cruised to a 66-41 victory Sunday over Drake in front of 3,361 fans at the Kohl Center in Madison, Wis.

Drake, playing two days after a victory over Creigh, went just 14-for-54 (25.9 percent) from the field. The Bulldogs’ starters fiinished 6-for-34 (17.6 percent) .

“I do think when your starting five goes 6-of-34 that is tough,” said Drake coach Jennie Baranczyk. “We didn’t make shots, we missed a few shots early, and we stopped taking them and stopped flowing into what we do best.”

Freshman Lizzy Wendell (Blue Springs, Mo.), sophomore Ashley Bartow (Verona, Wis.) and redshirt junior Carly Grenfell (York, Neb.) had eight points each to lead the Drake offense. Bartow, from Verona, Wis. which is just outside of Madison, pulled down six rebounds and had two assists and one steal.

Wisconsin’s Michala Johnson, who transferred from Connecticut and sat out the 2012-13 campaign, scored 16 points and grabbed a game-high 18 rebounds in her debut. Dakota Whyte had 18 points, while Taylor Wurtz, who redshirted last season, added 13 points and seven rebounds in her return for the Badgers. 

“We played a good home basketball team today in Wisconsin” Baranczyk said. “They had great balance in their scoring. I think Michala Johnson makes a huge difference in this ball team from a year ago. I think obviously having Taylor Wurtz back as a senior leader makes a big difference.”

Johnson had the first points of the ballgame with a layup at the 18:29 mark, but Drake senior Morgan Reid (Kansas City, Mo.) quickly evened the score at 2-2 with a jumper. However, that would be as close as the Bulldogs would get as the Badgers went on a 16-2 scoring run for nine minutes to take control of the contest.

“I credit Wisconsin and everything from this game today,” commented Baranczyk. “I do however believe they didn’t get to see our best. You almost want to apologize for that. They definitely didn’t get to see the team that played on Friday against Creighton from our standpoint.”

Drake forced 13 Wisconsin turnovers, but could only muster four points off of them. The Bulldogs bench outscored the Badgers, 21-7, led by Grenfell and Wendell. After struggling at the foul-line against Creighton, Drake improved to a 9-for-12 (75 percent) performance today. The Bulldogs struggled on the glass as Wisconsin held a 49-34 advantage in the game, including giving up 17 offensive rebounds.

“The other thing was the rebounding margin,” said Baranczyk. “To give up 17 offensive rebounds is huge. They do have a distinct advantage on the inside with their height, that was maybe part of it, and a big part of it was a lot of us just not knocking down the shots we needed to.”

--John Meyer, Drake sports information