Three takeaways from Wisconsin women's basketball's loss at Minnesota

MADISON – The Wisconsin women’s basketball team played on the road Sunday, Jan. 26, but its momentum did not travel.

The Badgers dropped to 2-5 on the road with a 88-53 loss to Minnesota at Williams Arena. The defeat was Wisconsin’s first in three games and it dropped the team to 13-8 overall and 5-5 in the Big Ten.

Senior guard Destiny Howell finished with a team-high 16 points on 4-for-16 shooting. Junior guard Kyrah Daniels added 13 points, 11 in the first half. Senior guard Ronnie Porter posted nine points, three assist and zero turnovers in a team-high 34 minutes.

Sophomore guard Tori McKinney finished with 20 points on 8-for-11 shooting and grabbed seven rebounds for the Gophers. Junior guard Grace Grocholski, a graduate of Kettle Moraine High School, scored 18 points. She hit six of seven shots overall and four of five from 3-point range. Senior guard Amaya Battle also had 18 points for Minnesota, who improved to 14-6 overall and 5-5 in the Big Ten.

BOX SCORE: Minnesota 88, Wisconsin 53

Here are three takeaways from the game.

Slow start spoils chances again

The Badgers felt the pangs of attempting to win on the road and they started early. As was the case at Michigan and Maryland, UW hurt its chance of being competitive with a poor first quarter.

Sunday, Wisconsin shot 26.7% (4 for 15) in the first quarter and trailed by 10 4 ½ minutes into the game.

The Badgers cut that deficit to five points, 15-10, but Minnesota extended its advantage to 12 at end of the first quarter. Wisconsin never pulled within single digits in the final 28 minutes.

Firepower shows briefly in the second half

Wisconsin lost its third straight game to the Gophers, but not before giving them a scare.

The Badgers scored 22 points in 7 minutes to open the second half and cut a 20-point halftime deficit to 56-46 with 3 minutes 2 seconds to go in the quarter. UW hit seven of its first nine shots and was 5 for 5 from three-point range.

Howell had 13 points in the quarter, all of it coming during a 3-minute 12-second span.

The stretch was a reminder of how explosive the Badgers' offense can be when its clicking.

Badgers can't help themselves with easy buckets

Whether Wisconsin wins or loses, it is getting its scoring the hard way. The team was averaging 7.7 fast break points and 27.7 points in the paint during the first nine Big Ten games.

Sunday, they managed just two fast break points and 18 points in the paint. Minnesota combined for 55 points in those categories. The lack of production in those areas is tough for Wisconsin to bear if the shots aren’t falling.

Wisconsin’s 34.6% shooting was its third-lowest total of the season and its second-lowest total against a Big Ten opponent.

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Three takeaways from Wisconsin women's basketball's loss at Minnesota