All season long the Minnesota women’s basketball team has struggled to sustain any momentum.
The trend continued Thursday.
Despite being a high-paced team in the first half, Minnesota (8-13, 1-9 Big Ten) fell 75-65 at Wisconsin. Once again, the injury-plagued Gophers showed they’re not capable of running with their opponent for 40 minutes.
But the Gophers out-hustled the Badgers (11-8, 5-5) for most of the first half. The 6-foot-7 presence of center Kim Bell in the paint helped Minnesota to a 22-20 lead.
But with little more than four minutes remaining in the half, Bell found herself in foul trouble and on the bench. Wisconsin took advantage, and a 28-22.
While the Badgers looked hot, the Gophers closed the half strong to earn a 28-28 tie.
In the second half, Minnesota came out a less intense team while Wisconsin regained its composure.
Halfway through, the conference foes would find themselves even again, this time at 49. But then Wisconsin pulled ahead for good.
Down 62-53, one of Minnesota’s offensive stars went down. With 4:37 seconds remaining, senior forward Moneeke Bowden fouled out.
The Gophers went on cruise control to finish the game.
Senior guard Erin Olson led the Gophers with 21 points. Meanwhile, sophomore guard Tamara Moore helped the Badgers cause with 22 points.
The Gophers stay on the road Sunday when they travel to face Illinois.

Sarah Mitchell covers basketball and welcomes comments at [email protected].