MADISON, Wis. — The Chicago State women's basketball team (1-4) won its first game in nearly two years on Monday night, defeating Wisconsin, 71-63 at the Kohl Center.
This marks the first win of head coach Tiffany Sardin's Chicago State tenure, and the program's first victory since January 18, 2020, a 60-58 win over CSU Bakersfield.
The win at Wisconsin also marks the first win against a Big Ten team for Chicago State women's basketball since November 14, 2008, over Northwestern.
In an overtime thriller, Chicago State's spectacular freshman guard Aaliyah Collins, fresh off winning the Western Athletic Conference's Player of the Week honor, scored 25 points to power the program to the landmark win. And behind Collins, CSU's hard-nosed defense limited Wisconsin to just 30.9 percent shooting.
The Cougars defeated Wisconsin for the first time ever, in the eighth meeting between the two programs.
"This means everything," Sardin said. "We've been scratching and clawing. These young women showed a true testament of never giving up.
"It's all about the work. We trust the process to what I believe in and what our women are capable of doing. Like they said, we like to be as positive as possible. Our energy leads us. That's everything for us."
In the first quarter, the Cougars came out firing on all cylinders. Just a minute into the game, CSU had already executed a 5-0 run featuring a smooth layup by Quentarra Mitchell and a trey from Allysah Boothe.
After a Badger bucket to answer back, the Cougars continued their rampage, this time with a 7-0 run. which was once again ignited by Mitchell, who poured in another jumper, and Boothe, who sunk another three-pointer. This gave the Cougars an early 12-2 lead just four minutes into the game.
By the end of the quarter, the Cougars had completely dominated the Badgers, leading 21-7. The first quarter rally was capped off by a ferocious drive to the hoop from Collins.
To start the second quarter, the Badgers fought back with two quick scores. However, the Cougars quickly responded, with Collins and Boothe's hot shooting leading the charge and giving the Cougars a 16-point lead at 28-12.
After the hot-shooting stretch, the host Badgers caught their own fire, unleashing a 10-0 run, which cut the Cougars' lead to seven, 32-25, at halftime.
In the third quarter, both teams opened up by scoring on with back-to-back possessions as Julia Pospisilova sank one out of two free throws and Collins drained another forceful layup.
Over the next stretch, the Badgers outscored the Cougars, 15-7, with CSU scoring on a layup from Janiah Newell, Cristina Britter jumper, and a three-ball from Ana Haklicka.
By the end of the third quarter, the Badgers led, 44-43, keyed by Pospisilova and Hilliard's scoring.
In the fourth quarter, the two teams duked it out to a 50-50 score at the 0:59 mark, when Laura Segues was fouled and sent to the line. The second-year Cougar calmly converted both to give the Cougars a two-point lead. However, the Badgers answered back with a Hilliard jumper to tie it at 52 with 41 seconds to play. That remained the score as the two squads plunged into overtime.
Overtime hit, and Chicago State came out hot behind Collins. The freshman from Snohomish, Washington drilled another contested layup to give the Cougars a two-point lead. But once again, the Badgers had an answer with a Hilliard score to tie the game back up.
For the rest of overtime, the Cougars executed an 11-4 run, highlighted by Collins' on-ball defensive mastery and more clutch Segues free throws to ice a 71-63 win for the Cougars.
"After our previous game against Loyola, I knew we had what it takes to win," Collins said. "I was trying to feed off of that energy and get the team hyped."
The Cougars next travel to Miami for the Florida International University Thanksgiving Tournament, featuring a matchup with FIU on Friday, November 26 at 11 a.m.
About Chicago State
Chicago State University Athletics is comprised of 15 intercollegiate teams involving over 150 student-athletes that compete in basketball, cross country, golf, soccer, tennis, indoor and outdoor track and volleyball. CSU held memberships in the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) and NCAA Division II before transitioning to NCAA Division I in 1994. Melvin Bland was the first CSU student-athlete to gain NAIA All-American status in 1974 as a wrestler. Fred Evans became the first black swimmer ever to win a national championship in 1975. CSU's women's basketball team earned a spot in the 2011 Women's Basketball Invitational and CSU's men's basketball team won the 2013 Great West Conference Tournament title and made an appearance in the CollegeInside.com Postseason Tournament (CIT). The Men's Outdoor Track & Field 4x100-Meter Relay team were 2019 Honorable Mention All-Americans and WAC Champions. Their feat marked the first time the Chicago State's men's track & field program was represented at the national meet.
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