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UW women rip Illinois

MADISON — Alyssa Karel from three-point range . . . swish!

Karel again from three-point range . . . swish!

Karel with a pull-up jumper . . . good!

The University of Wisconsin sophomore guard, who had seemingly lost her shooting touch in UW’s previous three games, rediscovered it Sunday to get the Badgers off to a quick eight-point lead against Illinois.

The Badgers never trailed after Karel’s eight-point outburst in the first 3 minutes 13 seconds and moved back to the .500 mark in Big Ten play with a 61-43 victory at the Kohl Center.

“It felt a little bit better this game, a little more comfortable,” said Karel, who had made six of 29 shots (20.7 percent) and scored a total of 20 points in UW’s previous three games. “The coaches kept telling me the way to get out of a slump is just keep shooting.”

Karel cooled a bit after her hot start but still finished 6 for 14 (42.9 percent) and led UW (14-5, 4-4) with 15 points. She added three steals, three rebounds and had no turnovers in 38 minutes.

Junior guard Teah Gant added 11 points and six rebounds and junior forward Mariah Dunham added 10 points and six rebounds for the Badgers, who saw five players score at least eight points and tied a school record with only five turnovers, none in the second half. UW had 20 turnovers Thursday in a three-point loss at Indiana.

“The key statistic of the game that makes me most proud being a former point guard,” UW coach Lisa Stone said, “is that we did not turn the ball over in the second half.”

With the victory, UW remained one-half game behind sixth-place Iowa (11-7, 4-3) and 1 1/2 games behind Minnesota (13-5, 5-2) and Michigan State (12-6, 5-2), which are tied for fourth.

For the second time this season, UW’s defense smothered the Illini (4-15, 0-8) when it mattered.

The Badgers held the Illini to 29.2 percent shooting (7 for 24) in building a 27-17 halftime lead. Illinois shot 50 precent in the second half (11 for 22) but never drew closer than 10 points.

Junior center Jenna Smith (15 points, 12 rebounds) and junior forward Lacey Simpson (11 points, 12 rebounds) carried the Illini but received little help as their teammates combined for 15 points on 6-for-22 shooting.

“You’re going to be in a position to be in every game,” Stone said, “if we continue to play defense like we’re playing and take care of the ball.”