MADISON — The Wisconsin women’s basketball team saw its largest crowd of the season Jan. 19, when 6,460 spectators filled the lower bowl of the Kohl Center to watch the Badgers nearly upset No. 22 Iowa.

Many of those in the crowd were from Monroe and its surrounding communities. Wisconsin welcomed the Cheesemaker faithful with a Monroe Community Day, giving thanks to the small city that has placed two players in the Badgers’ locker room.

“Looking in the crowd and seeing all the familiar faces definitely is a good feeling,” said Sydney Hilliard, a 2019 Monroe graduate.

Hilliard and high school teammate Sydney Mathiason, a 2018 grad, are both members of the basketball team at the state’s flagship school. Hilliard is a starting guard as a true freshman, averaging 9.9 points per game, which is third on the team. Hilliard is also top-3 on the squad in rebounds, assists, steals, field goal percentage and 3-point percentage.

Hilliard’s legacy as a Cheesemaker is filled with individual and team accomplishments. Monroe went to the state tournament three straight years, including bringing home the silver ball her senior season. She’s the program’s all-time leader in points, single season scoring and career field goal percentage. In fact, she holds the top-3 single season scoring marks in school history and is fourth in rebounding. She was also all-conference all four years and was a first-team all-state player.

Mathiason was Hilliard’s Monroe High School teammate for three seasons and finished sixth in program history in scoring and second in rebounding and garnered all-conference honors as well.

Playing in front of her family and other familiar faces is something Mathiason cherishes.

“It was great to see them come out. We had a great crowd,” said Sydney Mathiason, who entered the game in the final minute to an eruption of cheers. “I think it was the best crowd we’ve had so far this year, and I’m just so happy that Monroe could help bring some people out.”

Sam Mathiason, Sydney’s father and the head coach for the Monroe girls varsity team, said he was proud of his daughter’s accomplishments and was happy that UW put in a special day for the two MHS alums.

“I think it’s what makes Monroe the unique community that it is,” Sam Mathiason said. “While today is Monroe Community Day, I think at every one of these home games there have been lots and lots of families here and lots of people from Monroe here. It’s exciting to see.”

Another person in the crowd, sitting just feet away from the bench was Black Hawk senior Natalie Leuzinger, who has committed to the Badgers as a preferred walk-on for next season.

“I just love coming here to watch them, and I’m just very excited for next year. It’s a great atmosphere,” said Leuzinger, a state champion and all-state performer that is about to break Black Hawk’s career scoring record.

Women in Sports brings cheers before tip-off

Sunday was also the National Girls & Women in Sports Day, and to celebrate it, the Badgers set up a wide variety of fun stations for the visiting youth to participate.

Players from the women’s hockey team let children shoot tennis balls into goals and the 2018-19 NCAA National Championship trophy was on display for photos and selfies.The women’s softball team let children hit balls off a tee, while the rowing team let young boys and girls work up a sweat using an exercise row machine. The track and field squad set up a short race course where little ones could race against one another — or a Badger. 

“It’s really fun to meet all the players and try a little bit of their sports,” said Anna Zentner, a 12-year-old sixth grader at Monroe Middle School. “The rowing was hard.”

There was a football throwing station, basketball shooting spot, bounce house, a long line for face painting and a chance to sit on Bucky’s lap for a photo.

“I like it,” said a smiling Dash DeNure, a 4-year-old from Monroe, who added that his favorite color is black and he likes to get high fives from his cousin, Hilliard.

Dash, the son of Kyle and Melissa DeNure, wore a red “Hilliard 30” shirt to the game.

“It’s always crazy seeing the little ones wearing my jersey on the back of their shirt,” Hilliard said. “It’s just a great feeling to know that we have support from all around us.”

Children in attendance also received Badger gloves, and the first 100 kids through the door also got a pair of Badger slippers. The fourth-grade Monroe girls basketball team got to stand in the tunnel to welcome the Badgers onto the court, and the video board showed hordes of Monroe fans dancing the “floss” and singing “Baby Shark.”

Fans could grab posters of the team to take home, and after the game the women’s basketball team stuck around for autographs. The last person in line was Mathiason’s younger brother, Ryan, an eighth-grader at Monroe Middle School.

“National Girls & Women in Sports Day, I’m just glad that Wisconsin could help promote that and all the little girls that were here to watch us,” Sydney Mathiason said.

Iowa 85, Wisconsin 78

The game itself was a tale of two halves. The Badgers came out blazing in the first quarter, finishing 11 of 19 (57.8%) from the field and 3 of 4 from 3-point land. Wisconsin led 27-19 after the first quarter, and then was up 50-35 at halftime.

“I thought the tempo and pace that we played at worked really well,” Hilliard said. “Everyone was looking to be aggressive and to attack. Once we drove we found the open person, and I think we just feed off of that.”Hilliard played the second-most minutes for the Badgers in the first half and had seven points and five assists. Wisconsin shot 61.7% from the field and out-rebounded the Hawkeyes 23-11, thanks in part to Monika Czinano picking up two early fouls and missing much of the first half.

“In our last game (against Michigan) we struggled a little bit rebounding, and we sort of emphasized it for this game. Once we got Czinano in foul trouble, we just got big and used it to our advantage,” Hilliard said.

Czinano is a 6-foot-3 power forward that is second on the team in scoring. While Wisconsin took advantage of her time on the bench in the first half, she made up for it in the second half.

“It changed what they did — they played a lot more with 5-out, but again, obviously, they are ranked and are the hottest team in the league and coming off a comeback win against Minnesota,” Wisconsin coach Jonathan Tsipis said. “We never got into that offensive flow (in the second half).”

Kendra Van Leeuwen opened the third quarter with a basket for Wisconsin to push the lead to 17, but then Iowa slowly began heating up until momentum hit its boiling point. The Hawkeyes ran off a 20-2 run to take a 55-54 lead after just six minutes of action in the period. After that, the battle was on.

“We tied to get to the media timeout,” Tsipis said. “This is a team (Iowa) that scored 108 points in a Big Ten game. This is a team that doesn’t rely on one or two or three people. That’s a credit to them because they shoot it well and have a great inside presence. You know they are not going to stay quiet for four quarters.”

Wisconsin regained a 3-point lead after a Suzanne Gilreath 3-pointer with 2:01 left in the third, but by the time the period ended, Iowa was ahead 62-61. Wisconsin was just 4 of 17 (23.5%) from the field in the frame, while the Hawkeyes were 11 of 15 (73.3%).

“It was tough to watch the lead slip away, but Iowa is a really good team and we were in it,” Sydney Mathiason said. “We just couldn’t pull it out.”

A minute into the fourth quarter, Hilliard made a splashy drive to the hoop for a bucket that ignited the home crowd. The bucket also gave Wisconsin its final 3-point lead of the game at 65-62. No team led by more than one possession in the fourth until the final minute of the game. The Badgers trailed 79-76 entering the final minute, but Iowa hit 8 of 10 free throws in the final 50 seconds to seal the win.

“I thought our kids fought really hard for 40 minutes,” Tsipis said. “I am really proud of our team and I think you can see how many things we can do well.”

Czinano scored 12 points in the frame and finished with 20. Makenzie Meyer had 22 points and Kathleen Doyle added 21 for the Hawkeyes. Monona Grove freshman McKenna Warnock scored six points for Iowa.

Imani Lewis led Wisconsin with 18 points, while Niya Beverly had 16 and Laszewski added 14 points and 12 rebounds. Hilliard finished with nine points and six assists.

“I think we just need to work on building off of what we have. In the first half we had our adrenaline going and we were getting pumped up. Then that third quarter happened and we got down a little bit,” Hilliard said. “I thought the energy was there, the effort was there; we just need to focus on the little things.”

Iowa is tied for first in the Big Ten with a 6-1 league record and 15-3 overall mark. Wisconsin (9-9, 1-6) is tied for last in the 14-team conference. 

The Badgers are back in action Jan. 22 with a game at Minnesota (12-6, 2-5) before hosting Nebraska (14-4, 4-3) Jan. 25. The Cornhuskers feature former Barneveld standout Hannah Whitish.