The second time was not the charm for Northwestern this weekend.

The Wildcats (9-12, 2-5 Big Ten) traveled to Madison to take on Wisconsin (8-13, 1-7) for the second time in as many weeks. This time, though, instead of adding a win to their record, the Cats will head home with a 58-46 loss.

The first four minutes of the first quarter were very telling of how the game would end: 

Less than halfway through the period, Wisconsin held a 7-0 lead. When the Cats came out on top two weeks ago, they led 12-11 after one quarter. This time, however, NU trailed 16-7 at the end of the first.

Wisconsin made moves both offensively and defensively from the getgo with key contributions coming from forward Marsha Howard and guard Cayla McMorris. Howard led all scorers with 21 points while McMorris added 12.

For the visitors, sophomore forward Abi Scheid led the way with 17 points, but freshman guards Lindsey Pulliam and Jordan Hamilton had a tough day offensively, combining to shoot 1-for-20 from the field.

NU’s defense struggled throughout the game, allowing Wisconsin to shoot 46 percent from the field. The Badgers’ largest lead of the game was by 15 points in the second quarter, and the hosts led for the majority of the game. The Cats, on the other hand, never led by more than 1.

The visitors were stuck playing catch-up until midway through the fourth quarter. NU got closer to snagging a lead with each period, closing the deficit to three by the end of the third quarter.

Then, in the fourth quarter, the Cats made it happen, but it was too little too late. A layup by junior center Pallas Kunaiyi-Akpanah gave NU its first lead of the game at 45-44 with only a little over four minutes left in the game.

Ultimately, after getting its first lead in the game, the team was unable to keep the momentum going. Wisconsin closed the game on a 14-1 run, icing the game at the free throw line to secure its first conference win of the season.

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