WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – An 11-0 run over the last 1:46 led the Wisconsin women's basketball team to a 64-51 win at Wake Forest in the Big Ten/ACC Challenge on Wednesday night. The Badgers improved to 5-4 all-time in the Challenge and 3-3 on the season.
 
"This is going to be confidence-building for us," UW head coach Bobbie Kelsey said. "We need confidence. These kids, coming on the road in a tough league, but we're not going to take a back seat to anybody. We want to prove ourselves against the best. We want the Big Ten to represent. Let's get this ACC/Big Ten Challenge."
 
Wisconsin led by as many as 11 points (37-26) in the third quarter but Wake Forest (5-2) cut the lead to 41-40 at the end of the period.
 
The Badgers led by five points four times in the fourth quarter, including at 51-46 with 2:49 to play. A 3-pointer from Wake's Amber Stephenson cut the lead to 51-49 with 2:35 remaining but two free throws from Tessa Cichy put UW up 53-49 with 2:24 left. A layup by Kandice Ball made the score 53-51 with 2:07 remaining but that would the last bucket the Demon Deacons would score as Wisconsin went on its 11-0 run.
 
"We had the last run and that's what you want," Kelsey said. "We had the last run at the right time. We're going to celebrate hard and get on to the next one."
 
UW had four players score in double figures behind 16 points from sophomore Cayla McMorris. Seniors Nicole Bauman (14), Dakota Whyte (13) and Tessa Cichy (10) all scored 10-or-more points.
 
The Badgers shot 40.8 percent (20-for-49) from the field, including 34.8 percent (8-for-23) from 3-point range. After not shooting a free throw on Sunday at San Diego State, Wisconsin went 16-for-21 (76.2 percent) from the charity stripe Wednesday.
 
Wake Forest shot just 28.2 percent (20-for-71) from the field and 17.4 percent (4-for-23) from 3-point range. The Deacons were led by Stephenson with 13 points while Amber Campbell and Destini Walker both added 11 points.
 
"When we play defense like we're supposed to, we can do a lot of good things," Kelsey added. "Everybody contributed – Cayla kept us in in the beginning, Nicole hit some shots, Tessa hit a big three, Shelly (Roichelle Marble) got a foul, Mick (Michala Johnson) got a foul, Dakota got some breakaways, Avy (Avyanna Young) got a steal. But Dakota was really the key. She came out and she was so positive in the huddles, so enthusiastic."
 
Wisconsin outrebounded Wake Forest 44-39 behind a game-high 12 boards from Young. The Demon Deacons had 21 offense rebounds.
 
"We gave up too many (offensive) boards but these kids are fighting so hard that I'm not going to nitpick about the stats," said Kelsey. "We held on to the ball a little bit better tonight and we got the W."
 
UW turned the ball over 16 times but dished off 14 assists, including four from Bauman.
 
The Badgers jumped out to a 5-0 lead in the game before the Demon Deacons finally got on the board with 4:56 to play in the first period. A 3-pointer by Cichy with four seconds left in the quarter put Wisconsin up 15-8 at the first break.
 
UW went up 18-8 early in the second period as McMorris hit a 3-pointer with 9:16 on the clock. Another triple by McMorris at 6:04 gave the Badgers a 23-13 lead before the Deacons started to get hot on offense. A 6-0 Wake run pulled the host school within four (23-19) with 2:41 to go in the second.
 
A 3-pointer by Bauman with 1:58 to go ended the run but another run by Wake Forest, keyed by Wisconsin turnovers, pulled the Demon Deacons within two (26-24) with 29 seconds left. McMorris, who scored 14 points in the first half, hit another 3-pointer with 12 seconds left but Wake's Kortni Simmons hit a trey with one second left, sending the Badgers to the locker room with a 29-26 lead.
 
An 8-0 UW run kicked off the second half as Whyte and Bauman hit 3-pointers to put UW up 37-26 with 6:03 to go in the qurter.  A 5-0 Wake Forest run pulled the Deacons within six (37-31) with 5:12 left before a Whyte layup ended the run with 4:54 on the clock. Wake Forest used a 7-0 run to cut the lead to one point (39-38) with 1:45 left in the quarter. Bauman hit a jumper with 1:29 to play but the Demon Deacons sank two free throws late to make it 41-40 at the end of three. 
 
The Badgers wrap up a five-game road swing on Sunday when they travel to intrastate rival Marquette. Tip time is 2 p.m. from the Al McGuire Center.