The Illinois women’s basketball team did something on Sunday that the No. 7 team in the country failed to do only three days earlier: beat Wisconsin in Madison. 

One game after the Badgers knocked off first-place Penn State at home, the Illini (13-8, 6-3 Big Ten) picked up a 64-56 victory against the Badgers (10-12, 2-7), giving Illinois more conference wins than it had last season. Senior guard Adrienne GodBold led Illinois with 18 points, 13 rebounds, six steals and a block. The win gives Illinois its fifth consecutive road win in the Big Ten for the first time in program history in one season. The Illini also won in Madison for the first time since 2007.

“Today was kind of a grind-it-out day as our third game in a week,” Illini head coach Matt Bollant said. “Wisconsin is a very physical team that tries to control the tempo, so today was one of those days where you just have to find a way. We lost a couple of those games in the first semester, so for us for three games in a row now to step up and make the plays and defend well down the stretch (is great).”

The first half was back and forth, with neither team leading by more than six.

Senior forward Karisma Penn gave Illinois a good start from downtown after making a 3-point field goal for the third straight game at the 17:14 mark.

Although Wisconsin got off to a quick start by recording four of its first five field goal attempts, two of which were 3-pointers, its five turnovers early kept Illinois close.

After Illinois took a 30-second timeout trailing 10-5, GodBold hit a 3-pointer out of the break to bring the score to 10-8 with 15:46 remaining in the first half. The Illini continued their hot shooting, making 5-of-11 3-point attempts in the first half. Illinois entered Sunday with back-to-back games with a season-high 11 3-pointers.

Midway through the first half, Illinois already forced eight turnovers — leading to six points — six of which were steals, giving the Illini a 20-14 lead at the 10:30 mark.

Every time Illinois was about to pull away in the first half, junior guard Morgan Paige kept Wisconsin in it. Paige led the Badgers with 18 first-half points.

Illinois led 34-31 at halftime, led by GodBold’s 14 points, six rebounds, three steals and a block on 6-for-9 shooting from the field. Junior guard Amber Moore also chipped in five points, three rebounds, two assists and two steals in the first half.

Although the Illini were outrebounded 17-14 in the first half, Illinois forced 12 Wisconsin turnovers, including 10 steals, leading to six Illini points.

At the 7:52 mark of the second half, up 50-44, Illinois had numerous chances to take its biggest lead of the game. After multiple misses, freshman guard Nicole Bauman collected the rebound and went up court to nail a 3-pointer to bring Wisconsin with in three with seven minutes remaining.

Missed second-half free throws kept the Badgers in the game despite 27 Wisconsin turnovers, leading to 21 Illini points. Illinois shot only 11-for-18 from the stripe, many of which came down the stretch.

Turnovers ultimately did the Badgers in after Paige’s cough up — her ninth of the game — led to GodBold’s layup with 1:30 left, giving Illinois its largest lead of the game at 58-51.

After struggling throughout the game from the line, sophomore guard Alexis Smith and Moore combined for four consecutive free throws with under 33 seconds left, icing the game for the Illini.

Illinois won despite only shooting 2-for-9 in the second half from downtown and being outrebounded 35-31. The Illini entered the game with a 5-8 record when they were outrebounded.

Michael can be reached at wonsovr2 @dailyillini.com and @m_dubb.