Women’s basketball (1-2) never got its offense going Sunday in Madison, Wis., as it fell for the second time in three games this season.

The Huskies, who last played Tuesday, suffered their second loss of the season, both of which have come on the road. They fell 71-51 to the Wisconsin Badgers (3-0), who made eight three-pointers to the Huskies’ zero.

Wisconsin forward Jacki Gulczynski nailed a three-pointer that put the Badgers up 3-0 1:24 into the game. The Huskies were able take a brief 4-3 lead at the 16:12 mark, but the Badgers retook the lead 14 seconds later and held it for the remainder of the game.

The Huskies trailed 33-18 at the half and shot only 28.1 percent (9-of-32) in the first half. The Badgers shot 39.4 percent (13-of-33) from the field and made 33.3 percent (5-of-15) of their shots from beyond the three-point line.

“We tried to take them off rhythm,” said head coach Kathi Bennett. “They have great size, so we packed the inside and forced them to shoot outside. So, we picked our poison, but we gave up too many uncontested shots. They got some transition buckets, but we did a great job when we had them slowed down.”

The Huskies, who trailed by 15 at the half, were never able to get back into the game offensively. They faced a near-20-point deficit for the majority of the second half and had the score as close as 54-39 midway through the second half.

“We got a lot of shots up,” Bennett said. “We got some good looks … but I felt like their size bothered us.”

The Huskies shot 31.7 percent (20-of-63) for the game, while the Badgers shot 38.5 percent (25-of-65). NIU went 0-of-5 from downtown, while Wisconsin finished 8-of-23 (34.8 percent).

The Huskies were outrebounded 47-36 and out-assisted 14-6. They shot 84.6 percent (11-of-13) from the free-throw line compared to Wisconsin’s 76.5 percent (13-of-17), and they turned the ball over only 14 times to Wisconsin’s 15.

The Badgers had three scorers reach double digits: Forward/center Michala Johnson, Gulczynski and guard Taylor Wurtz.

Johnson posted a double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds while Gulczynski came close with 15 points and nine rebounds. Wurtz nearly recorded a double-double as well, with 13 points and eight rebounds; she added four assists.

“That’s their strength,” Bennett said. “They’re athletic, they’re big. We did our job for a while, but when they got some breaks, that’s when it [the scoring] happened.”

Redshirt junior guard Danny Pulliam posted a team-high 11 points but was the lone Huskie in double digits. Junior guard Amanda Corral, who averaged 13 points through the first two games, was held to six points.