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Wisconsin sweeps Minnesota, sits along atop the Big Ten

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Wisconsin coach Kelly Sheffield

With the top spot in the Big Ten Conference on the line, number seven Wisconsin swept number six Minnesota in a battle for the top spot in the league on Sunday.

The Badgers swept the Gophers, 25-18, 25-15, 25-20, to earn its third straight sweep, its third win over a top-10 team in its last four matches, and its first Border Battle win since 2014 – also when it won its last Big Ten Championship.

The Badgers held Minnesota to a .188 hitting percentage (31 kills – 12 errors – 101 attempts).  Senior libero Tiffany Clark totaled a match-high 14 digs, and Madison Duello and Danielle Hart finished with three blocks each, holding down the front line.

Offensively, junior Dana Rettke finished with a match-high 16 kills, hitting an even .500 (16-2-28) on the day.  Molly Haggerty added 12 kills for the Badgers. [Read more…]

Badger women’s hockey advances to NCAA title game

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Annie Pankowski – File Photo by David Stluka)

The top-ranked Wisconsin women’s hockey team advanced to the NCAA Frozen four championship game.  The Badgers routed Clarkson, 5-0, in Friday’s Frozen Four semifinals in Hamden, Connecticut.

Annie Pankowski scored two goals for the Badgers (34-4-2), who advance to play Minnesota (32-5-1) in Sunday’s championship game (1:30 p.m.).

The game was close until the Badgers scored four goals in the final period to break it open.  Pankowski scored both of her goals in the final period.

Minnesota blanked Cornell 2-0 in the first semifinal contest, setting up a rematch with the Badgers, who beat the Gophers in the WCHA Championship game.

The Badgers will play in their 8th NCAA Frozen Four Championship game and their second in the last three years.

 

Badgers avenge January loss to Gophers

By

Ethan Happ

It was far from perfect, but the 19th ranked Wisconsin Badgers aren’t interested in style points at this stage of the season.  After falling to Minnesota at the Kohl Center on January 3, the Badgers returned the favor, pulling out a 56-51 win on Wednesday night at Williams Arena in Minneapolis.

The Badgers missed a number of shots in the lane in the first half but settled down in the second half to pull out the win.

The Badgers (17-6, 9-3 Big Ten) extended their win streak to six games and moved into a third place tie with Michigan State in the Big Ten race.  Wisconsin is a half game behind Purdue and a game behind front running Michigan and will face the Wolverines on Saturday in Ann Arbor.

The Badgers got 15 points and 13 rebounds from Ethan Happ as they won on the road for the seventh time in the last eight games.  Guard Brad Davison added 10 points, although hit just 2 of 12 from the field. [Read more…]

Hockey Badgers drop series opener at Minnesota

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The Wisconsin Badgers trailed go a goal late in the third period, but the Minnesota Gophers scored four goals in four minutes to come away with a 9-4 victory at Mariucci Arena.

Freshman center Mick Messner scored in the second period and forward Brock Caufield, Jack Gorniak and Seamus Malone each lit the lamp in the third period to make it a 5-4 game in favor of Minnesota (10-10-4, 7-5-3-0 Big Ten).  But the Gophers then rattled off four unanswered goals with under five minutes to play, putting the game out of Wisconsin’s (8-11-4, 4-5-4-1 Big Ten) reach.

The Badgers outshot the Gophers 46-28, but Minnesota’s success on the power play and an early 3-0 lead in the first period were enough to doom the Badgers.

“For 55 minutes, we played good hockey, but you can’t play a 55-minute game”, said Badger coach Tony Granato.  “Minnesota is a team where if they see weakness or they see us on our heels, they take advantage of it and that’s what happened.  Every time we let off the gas, they made a play and were able to pull away from us.”

The two teams wrap up the 2-game series on Saturday night.

Badgers fall victim to the Gophers and some cold shooting

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The Wisconsin Badgers shot just 26% from the field in the first half and dug too big of a hole to get out of, falling to the rival Minnesota Gophers 59-52 on Thursday night at the Kohl Center.

The Badgers made just 2 of 14 three-pointers (14.3 percent) and 6 of 26 field goals overall in the first half, trailing 29-14 at the break.

Wisconsin (10-4, 2-1 Big Ten) shot 63% from the field in the second half and pulled to within 49-47 with just over two minutes left before committing three straight turnovers.  That allowed the Gophers to pull away for the victory, ending the Badgers seven game win streak over Minnesota at the Kohl Center.  The Gophers last win at the Kohl Center came on January 15, 2009.

Ethan Happ had 17 points and eight rebounds and played well in the second half.  But he also made just 1 of 7 free throws as UW finished 7 of 17 from the stripe.

D’Mitric Trice finished with just eight points, hitting just 2 of 7 from three-point distance and 3 of 10 shots overall.  He also committed four costly turnovers. [Read more…]

Badgers end regular season with loss to Gophers

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After maintaining possession of Paul Bunyan’s Axe for 14 straight seasons, the Wisconsin Badgers allowed the Minnesota Gophers to reclaim it.  The Badgers couldn’t get anything going and fell to the Gophers 37-15 on Senior Day at Camp Randall Stadium.

The Badgers were once projected to win the Big Ten West and compete for the Big Ten Championship.  Instead, they lost for the fifth time (7-5, 5-4 Big Ten) this season and fourth time in Big Ten play.

The Badgers lost to the Gophers for the first time since 2003 and the first time at home since 1994.

Minnesota (6-6, 3-6) became bowl eligible with the victory.

Alex Hornibrook returned to the Wisconsin lineup after leaving the Rutgers game on November 3 with his second concussion of the season.  Hornibrook started fast but couldn’t keep it going, completing 22 of 33 for 189 yards, 2 TD’s and 3 interceptions.  He also lost a fumble. [Read more…]

Wisconsin falls to Minnesota in Big Ten Volleyball

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The fifth-ranked Wisconsin volleyball dropped its first Big Ten match of the season, falling to sixth-ranked Minnesota on Wednesday night in three sets, 25-17, 25-21, 25-15.

Wisconsin (9-2 overall, 2-1 BIG) hit .221 (39-14-11) for the match but could not slow Minnesota (9-2, 3-0), who hit .386 (46-7-101).

Sophomore Dana Rettke earned a team-best 12 kills while adding three digs, an ace and a block.  Grace Loberg and Tionna Williams combined for three blocks as the Badgers earned a slight 4-3 advantage at the net.

Libero Tiffany Clark earned a match-high 16 digs in tonight’s effort.  Minnesota out dug UW, 50-41.

The Badgers are back on the road this weekend, traveling to West Lafayette, Indiana, on Saturday for a 6 p.m. match against Purdue.

Badger women back in NCAA Frozen Four (AUDIO)

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The Wisconsin women’s hockey team are back in the NCAA Frozen Four for the fifth consecutive year and 11th time overall, blanking the rival Minnesota Gophers 4-0 on Saturday at LaBahn Arena in the quarterfinals.

The 2nd-seeded Badgers (31-4-2) went 5-1 against the Gophers this season.

Sophomore goaltender Kristen Campbell faced only 12 shots and sophomore center Abby Roque (Rock) scored back-to-back goals in a span of 16 seconds and added an assist to help the Badgers knock off the Gophers.

UW had more shots on goal (14) in the first 20 minutes of the game than the Gophers managed the entire game.  Wisconsin outshot Minnesota 39-12.

The Gophers, who upset the Badgers in the WCHA title game last week, saw their season come to an end with a 24-11-3 record.

The Badgers will meet third-seeded Colgate (33-5-1) at 7 p.m. Friday at Ridder Arena in Minneapolis.  Top-seeded Clarkson (34-4-1) meets Ohio State (24-10-4) in the first semifinal at 4 p.m. Friday.  The winners will meet for the championship on Sunday at 2 p.m.

All three NCAA Frozen Four games will be televised by BTN.

AUDIO: Kristen Campbell on losing at Minny 3-1 last week, then playing their best game of the year :12

AUDIO: Mark Johnson on his team playing their best game on a big stage :19

AUDIO: Abby Roque on scoring two goals in a 16-sec. span in 2nd period :17

Hockey Badgers honor their seniors

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It’s senior weekend at the Kohl Center this weekend as the 17th ranked Wisconsin men’s hockey team faces the rival Minnesota Gophers at the Kohl Center.

The Badgers will recognize their eight seniors before Saturday nights game.  It’s the largest senior class for the Badgers since the 2013-14 squad had nine seniors complete their eligibility.

That list includes Tim Davison, Jason Ford, Kyle Hayton, Cameron Hughes, Cullen Hurley, Jake Linhart, Matt Ustaski and Ryan Wagner.

With four games remaining in the regular season, the Badgers sit alone in third place with 28 points, one better than Michigan and three points ahead of Penn State.  [Read more…]

Badgers head to Big Ten title game unbeaten

By

Paul Chryst

The Wisconsin Badgers are 12-0 for the first time in school history, following Saturday’s 31-0 shutout win over the Minnesota Gophers in Minneapolis.  The win is the 14th straight for the Badgers in the series and keeps Paul Bunyan’s Axe in Madison for at least another season.

Paul Chryst improved to 22-4 in Big Ten play and 33-6 overall at Wisconsin (12-0, 9-0 Big Ten).

Wisconsin’s win, along with a pair of losses from No. 1 Alabama on Saturday and No. 2 Miami on Friday, should propel the Badgers into the top four when the College Football Playoff rankings come out on Tuesday night.  Wisconsin was fifth in the rankings going into Saturday’s win against Minnesota.

The Badgers will most likely secure a bid in the four-team College Football Playoffs if they knock off Ohio State in this Saturday’s Big Ten title game in Indianapolis. The Buckeyes (10-2, 8-1) knocked off Michigan 31-20 this past weekend.

The Gophers finished 2-7 in the Big Ten and 5-7 overall in P.J. Fleck’s first season.

The Badger defense posted its first shutout since a 37-0 win over Rutgers on Nov. 1, 2014.  The Gophers didn’t even pick up a first down until 41 seconds left in the first half.

The Gophers finished with just 133 total yards on 48 plays, an average of 2.8 yards per play.

Alex Hornibrook finished 15 of 19 for 151 yards and three touchdowns in the victory, while freshman running back Jonathan Taylor finished with 20 carries for 149 yards and a touchdown, giving him 1,806 yards rushing for the season.  That’s third all time for FBS freshmen.  Wisconsin’s Ron Dayne finished with 1,863 yards and Adrian Peterson finished with 1,925 yards in his first season.

Wisconsin improved its record against Minnesota to 60-59-8, taking the lead in the team’s all-time series for the first time in the history of a rivalry that dates to 1890.