Late game charge not enough for win

Facing a 59-49 deficit with only five minutes left in the game, junior Jenny DeMuth and sophomore Cyndi Valentin were able to put together a 13-5 rally, cutting the Badgers' lead to two points with two minutes left to play. \nStill, the late rally was not enough, as the Hoosiers eventually fell to Wisconsin 66-62.\nThe loss drops IU to 4-11 in Big Ten play and 11-15 overall, while the Badgers improve to 3-11 in conference action and 9-15 overall. Sophomore forward Jordan Wilson and 6-foot-5 senior center Emily Ashbaugh led Wisconsin with 24 and 16 points, respectively. \nWisconsin coach Lisa Stone said Wilson's and Ashbaugh's tough inside play was the difference in the game.\n"Our kids really wanted this one," Stone said. "All we ran was a simple quick-hit (offense), and Jordan inside is what made it work. I'm very proud of her. She made the big shots in a timely manner."\nWhile the larger forwards and centers provided nearly two-thirds of the Badgers' offense, IU's guards Valentin and DeMuth proved to be the Hoosiers' heavy hitters. Valentin finished the game with 21 points and was perfect from the charity stripe, hitting all seven of her shots. With 12:52 left in the game, Valentin broke the all-time IU women's record for consecutive free throws with 34. She needs only five more to break IU's Pat Graham's all-time record of 38 consecutive makes, a mark he set during the 1990-91 season. \nCurrently shooting 91.9 percent from the free throw line, Valentin ranks at No. 2 in the country in that category. Earlier in the season, Valentin said she looked at making free throws as an essential part of her game.\n"I look at free throws as easy points," Valentin said. "So I can't let myself just leave those points on the table."\nValentin wasn't the only Hoosier breaking records, as DeMuth's 18 points moved her to No. 15 on IU's all-time scoring list with 1,033 career points. Scoring has never been DeMuth's only contribution, and her performance in Wisconsin followed suit with a team-leading seven rebounds.\nDeMuth and Valentin combined scored all of the Hoosiers' 15 points in the last five minutes of the game, including back-to-back three-pointers to whittle Wisconsin's lead down to two. While Bennett was happy with the team's intensity during the rally, she wasn't as pleased with its timing.\n"Our rally came too late," Bennett said. "We needed that intensity early in the game, and we needed it all game."\n-- Contact senior writer Dan Patrick at djpatric@indiana.edu.