Tiera Stephen said it was an “accident” she was standing underneath the basket in the closing seconds Thursday night.
What a happy accident it was for the University of Wisconsin women’s basketball team.
The senior point guard scored on a putback basket with 5 seconds remaining to give the Badgers a stunning 63-61 victory over No. 7 Penn State in a Big Ten Conference women’s basketball game before an announced crowd of 3,602 at the Kohl Center.
Junior guard Morgan Paige scored a career-high 33 points as UW (10-11, 2-6 Big Ten) handed the Lady Lions (17-3, 7-1) their first conference loss and snapped their 11-game winning streak, just two weeks after Penn State hammered UW 84-40 in State College, Pa.
“All I can say is, ‘Wow.’ That was awesome,’ ” UW coach Bobbie Kelsey said. “I am really proud of this team. I have been saying it a lot lately, but we just persevered. … The kids really believe they can win these games. We believe they can do it and when they finally see it for themselves we can hold them to that standard now.”
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Stephen had just five points but collected 11 boards. She scored on a putback basket after grabbing a rebound of Cassie Rochel’s miss to give UW the victory after Penn State’s Alex Bentley hit a 15-footer to tie the game at 61 with 27 seconds left.
“I am just happy that Cassie was courageous enough to take the shot. That was huge,” Stephen said. “By accident, I was just standing there.”
Paige was 11 of 19 from the floor and made five of 10 3-pointers.
She canned her final trey as the shot clock expired to give the Badgers a 61-59 lead with 58 seconds left.
“That last one, I thought it was short when I let it go but it was straight on and it went in and the place erupted,” Paige said. “I knew it was big and I knew it was crucial at that time.”
Sophomore forward Jacki Gulczynski added 16 points for UW, including a pair of baskets in the final 5½ minutes that put the Badgers in front in what turned into a seesaw affair down the stretch.
Maggie Lucas scored 18 to lead Penn State, which scored the final 13 points of the first half after falling behind 29-20.
“I never felt comfortable,” Lady Lions coach Coquese Washington said. “I felt like Wisconsin was in a rhythm offensively all night and we never got in a rhythm on either end of the floor. Even when we took the lead in the first half, I still didn’t feel comfortable with the flow of the game.”
