Wisconsin comes back vs Harvard in WBIT quarterfinals: How it happened

MADISON – Wisconsin women’s basketball has gone from losing 10 straight games to winning its way to Wichita. The Badgers are advancing to the WBIT semifinals after defeating Harvard in overtime, 64-61, on March 26 in the quarterfinals at the Kohl Center. The way Wisconsin won was perhaps symbolic of the 2025-26 season.

The Badgers took several figurative punches – including when Harvard held them scoreless for nearly four minutes at seemingly the worst possible time late in the fourth quarter – before improbably scoring 10 points in the final 43 seconds of regulation (and seven points in the final 29 seconds) to force overtime. Then in overtime, Wisconsin won after a Harvard offensive foul with 4. 2 seconds remaining that was initially called as a defensive foul on UW’s Ronnie Porter.

After the overturned call, Harvard needed to foul. Destiny Howell hit both free throws, and Harvard could not tie it in the final seconds. UW also overcame a 23-14 deficit after a 12-0 Harvard run in the second quarter and a 39-33 deficit after a 7-0 Harvard run in the third quarter en route to the nailbiting win over the Crimson.

Gift Uchenna led the Badgers with 17 points on 8-of-13 shooting and nine rebounds. As late as the halfway point of the third quarter, Uchenna had more points than the rest of the Badgers combined. Wisconsin thrived on the defensive end, holding the Crimson to 33% shooting and .