Having lost two of its last three after an impressive four-game win streak, the Wisconsin women’s basketball team (16-6, 6-5 Big Ten) finds itself at a crucial point in the Big Ten season.

After Sunday’s 68-62 loss to Northwestern saw the Wildcats outscore the Badgers 41-30 in the second half, UW once again faces questions about its ability to bounce back. Before defeating Indiana on the road last Thursday, Wisconsin collapsed in the second half and fell to Penn State at home Jan. 21.

With a road contest at Minnesota looming on Thursday, Wisconsin is focused on finishing strong.

“Statistically, you see that they’re one of the tops in the conference in terms of steals, so they’ll apply pressure,” Wisconsin head coach Lisa Stone said of Minnesota in her Monday press conference. “We need to handle it a little better than we did last night. Again, it’s in The Barn. It’s loud and it’s a border battle.

“There’s a lot at stake and at the end, it’s one game for us, but there’s a lot of motivation behind it. For us, it’s getting back on track and trying to steal another one on the road.”

Wildcat second half shooting wipes out Badgers

Against Northwestern, Wisconsin saw its 14-point first half lead disappear in a heartbeat as NU decreased the deficit to five at halftime.

After a 6-2 run ensued to open the second half, the Wildcats never let up, shooting 65 percent from the field to finish the Badgers.

“We jumped out to a nice start in the first half, and then they got some early confidence in shooting in the first half, knocking down threes,” Stone said. “They knocked down a ton of threes on us, got some open looks. We were a step slow to the ball, and they got confidence. When a team gets offensive confidence, then obviously it gets their defense going, and they did that and they made us sputter.”

For Stone’s squad, the loss marked the first time this season that the Badgers fell despite having three players score in double figures.

Previously, Wisconsin was 10-0 when three or more reached that mark. Against the Wildcats, junior forward Lin Zastrow led the way with 19 points, while junior guard Alyssa Karel scored 16 and senior guard Rae Lin D’Alie contributed 10.

“Lin Zastrow had one of her best offensive outputs of the entire year; we need some other people to join her,” Stone said. “But as encouraging as that was, that’s something that we have to have on a consistent basis and we need the rest of the group to join in as well.”

Zastrow shines despite loss

For Zastrow, Sunday’s game was one of the best of her young career. Posting a career-high in points, the 6-4 forward also was highly efficient, converting on eight of 15 shots. Already tied for sixth in the Big Ten in field goal percentage at 46.6 percent, the Northwestern game showed the type of offensive presence Zastrow can be for the Badgers.

“She was a force, and I’ve talked a lot to Lin about that as we enter the second half of the Big Ten now,” Stone said. “We’re trying to keep a lead and get some cushion, maybe some separation … Lin really played with some excitement and some aggressiveness, I thought, offensively for us. [She’s] a great post defender, but also at the offensive end.

“We need that the rest of the way. We need to put, in some ways, the team on Lin’s back because she can shoulder that. She’s got that type of ability.”

With Zastrow playing a significant role in the offense alongside 6-foot-1 forward Tara Steinbauer, Wisconsin has one of the best post games in the conference.

“We need post play, and Lin had back-to-back [strong games]. At Indiana, she and Tara were fantastic inside, and a nice combination going inside takes pressure off our perimeter players.”