MADISON, Wis. – After a promising first half, San Diego State fueled up in the second half to force the Wisconsin women's basketball team into an overtime game that did not turn out in UW's favor as the Badgers fell, 63-57, in the championship game of the San Diego State Thanksgiving Classic.

"We didn't execute our press break very well at the end but we did at the beginning perfectly," head coach Bobbie Kelsey said. "We only had six turnovers at first but it hurt not having Dakota (Whyte), who was sick today, because she's another ball handler that could break the press almost by herself. We did some good things, we had 21 offensive boards but you have to finish. Our defense was there but in one play if you give them the offensive board and layup, then that's the game because we had the game won."

Wisconsin started with a strong first half, holding a 26-19 lead at halftime, but were outscored 20-11 in the third quarter. Senior Nicole Bauman stepped up late in the game for the Badgers, leading all players with a season-high 24 points, hitting five three-pointers in the second half.

Bauman hit 6-of-12 from beyond the arc and 9-of-19 from the field. She also added five rebounds, six assists and two blocks.

"It was a very gutsy performance from Nicole," Kelsey said. "I thought she did as much as you could ask for a player to do."

Sophomore Cayla McMorris led all players with 10 rebounds and neared her first career double-double with nine rebounds. Freshman Roichelle Marble put up a career-high 13 points, hitting 5-of-11 from the field.

The Badgers ended shooting 35.4 percent (23-65) from the field and 52.4 percent (11-21) from beyond the arc.

Wisconsin was never sent to the free-throw line but San Diego State was sent 18 times and made 12-of-18 at the charity stripe.

The Badgers trailed 16-13 after the first quarter but turned up the heat in the second, outscoring the Aztecs 13-3 in the frame. Sophomore Michaela Crall, who played in her first game for the Badgers on Friday, grabbed a rebound and shot it right back up to start the second quarter and was followed quickly with a notorious Bauman bomb as Bauman hit an easy shot from downtown off an assist from Tessa Cichy.

San Diego State would answer back with a 3-point shot of their own but Bauman sliced through the paint for a layup to steal the lead again, 20-19. Back-to-back jumpers from Marble and McMorris followed by another lay-in from Bauman put the Badgers in good position with a 26-19 lead at the half.

In similar fashion to Friday's game against Delaware, Wisconsin struggled to find its groove in the third quarter. UW gave up nine points off of turnovers and 12 points in the paint as the Aztecs outscored the Badgers 20-11 in the quarter.

San Diego State started to come back on a 5-0 run after Bauman's second 3-pointer to trail 32-26 with 6:09 remaining in the period. Despite two long balls from Bauman and one from Marble, the Badgers trailed 39-37 headed into the fourth quarter.

After just having a tight fourth quarter game against Delaware on Friday, the Badgers found themselves right back in a back-and-forth situation once again.

SDSU started the last period with a jumper in the paint by Ariell Bostick but senior Michala Johnson defended her territory and put up a shot under the basket to bring the Badgers' deficit down to two, 41-39.

For every Badger basket, there seemed to be an Aztec answer in the fourth quarter as SDSU's leading scorer, McKynzie Fort, put up a layup and scored on an old-fashioned three-point play to put her squad back up five, 44-39, with 7:30 to go in regulation.

With less than six minutes to play, Marble zipped through the lane and knocked in a layup to bring the Badgers within three, 44-41.

And as the Badgers have seen many times before, Bauman stepped up with her notable 3-point shot to tie up the game, 44-44 with five minutes left to play.

But the action was far from over. The Aztecs' Ahjalee Harvey nailed a jump shot to put SDSU up 46-44 but Bauman ran the score back up to a tie with a smooth layup. Relentlessly, the Aztecs hit a long ball at with less than four minutes to go, but Bauman once again had an answer for that with a trey of her own to knot the score, 49-49 with just under three minutes left in regulation.

The deal was almost sealed as Cichy hit a jump shot with 49 seconds left to play that gave UW a two-point lead, but the Aztecs sent it into overtime as they dinged in a layup at the four-second mark.

In the extra session, the Aztecs jumped out to a 54-51 lead off of an old-fashioned three-point play but Cichy knocked that off with a shot from beyond the arc to tie the two teams up for the eighth and final time. Bauman would drop in one more 3-pointer to bring the Badgers within a hopeful three points (60-57) but three free throws secured the 63-57 win for the Aztecs.

Wisconsin continues its road swing as it travels to Winston-Salem to take on Wake Forest on Wednesday.