The new-look Wisconsin Badgers had a great start to their season with an exhibition game on Monday, beating UW-River Falls 104-40 at the Kohl Center.
Wisconsin had returners Ronnie Porter and Joanna Spasovski
in the starting lineup, paired with transfer portal additions Laci Steele, Kyrah Daniels, and Gift Uchenna.
But, it was Destiny Howell who led the way, coming off the bench and scoring 22 points on 8/14 from the field, including 3/5 from three. Daniels had 16 points on 6/12 from the field, including 4/8 from three. Both Porter and Steele also got into double figures, with the former scoring 14 points on 5/6 from the field, while the latter had 11 points in 17 minutes of action.
Things were handled early, as the Badgers had a 20-point run early in the first quarter and easily controlled the game from there. Wisconsin had a 32-point third quarter and got past the 100-point mark for the first time since 2022.
Their defense held UW-River Falls to 24.4 percent from the field and 26.9 percent from three, while shooting 52.6 percent from the field themselves and hitting 15 threes in the win.
It’s a much different team for the Badgers, who have eight new additions, including the three starters, and they’ll get to show their true rotation next week when they take on Oakland in the season opener on Wednesday, November 5th.
Head coach Robin Pingeton is looking to turn things around quickly in Madison. Early on, it was a good exhibition performance from the group on Monday.
