MADISON (Interstat) — Teagan Mallegni hit a tiebreaking 3-pointer with 28.4 seconds remaining, and Wisconsin held off visiting Bradley 71-65 in a women’s NCAA Division I basketball game Tuesday at the Kohl Center. Wisconsin improved to 1-0, while Bradley fell to 0-1. Mallegni’s shot capped a back-and-forth finish after Bradley erased a double-digit second-half deficit. Attendance was 2,541.

Wisconsin controlled the early pace but never shook Bradley in the first half. Alicia Courthiau opened the scoring with a layup, and Nikki Kerstein’s layup gave the Badgers a 6-4 edge. Mya Wardle answered with a 3-pointer to put Bradley ahead briefly, but Wisconsin went back in front on Courthiau’s second layup and a Laci Steele jump shot. Adaline Sheplee’s driving layup pushed the Badgers to a 12-7 lead. Inia Jones converted a three-point play for Bradley to make it 12-10, and Addison Deal made two free throws for Wisconsin to close the first-quarter scoring at 14-10. In the second quarter, Ellie McDermid and Kali Fortson scored inside for Bradley, but Wisconsin answered with layups from Sheplee, Deal, Kerstein and Steele. Alice Veilleux hit a floating jump shot and a jumper off a turnover for Bradley, and Amani Abuhatab made two free throws. Deal’s layup with 30 seconds left in the half gave Wisconsin a 32-27 halftime lead.

Bradley opened the third quarter with renewed energy. After Sheplee’s layup made it 34-27, Charia Smith scored for the Braves and McDermid hit consecutive 3-pointers to give Bradley a 35-34 lead with 7:16 left in the quarter. Wisconsin answered with a decisive run. Steele made a tip-in, Mallegni hit a hook shot and a driving layup, and Giselle Janowski added a driving layup to push the Badgers ahead 42-35. Mallegni made one free throw and another driving layup, and Deal hit a 3-point pullup to extend the margin. Bradley got a tip-in from Veilleux and a 3-pointer from Wardle, but Wisconsin closed the quarter with Courthiau’s layup and Mallegni’s three-point play. Mallegni’s free throw gave Wisconsin a 53-42 lead after three quarters. That stretch gave the Badgers enough cushion to withstand Bradley’s fourth-quarter push.

Bradley stormed back in the fourth. Wardle hit a 3-pointer, and Jones followed with a 3-pointer to cut Wisconsin’s lead to 53-48. After Sheplee scored for Wisconsin, Jones hit another 3-pointer to make it 55-51. Sheplee answered again, but Smith scored twice in the paint for Bradley, and Lila Posthuma’s 3-pointer brought the Braves within 61-58. Wisconsin got a tip-in from Sheplee, but Jones connected from 3-point range again to cut the deficit to 63-61. Sheplee’s layup with 2 minutes remaining made it 65-61 before Smith scored inside and McDermid tied the game at 65 with a layup with 52.8 seconds left. Mallegni then delivered the biggest shot of the night, a 3-pointer with 28.4 seconds remaining that put Wisconsin ahead 68-65. Deal made two free throws with 19.1 seconds left, and Janowski made one of two free throws with 7.4 seconds remaining to close the scoring. The Braves could not answer before the final buzzer.

McDermid, a 6-foot-1 forward from Green Bay, Wis., who previously attended Bay Port High School, had 12 points, 10 rebounds, five assists and one block in 36 minutes. Wardle, a 5-7 guard from Peoria Notre Dame, had 11 points, seven rebounds and eight assists in 37 minutes. Deal, a Wisconsin guard, had 15 points, four rebounds and three assists in 38 minutes. Mallegni, a Badgers guard, had 17 points, six rebounds, four assists and one block in 31 minutes. Smith, a 6-1 Bradley forward from Northland, had 10 points, six rebounds and three assists in 23 minutes. Sheplee, a Wisconsin guard, had 16 points and three rebounds in 23 minutes. Steele, a 5-11 Wisconsin guard from Edmond North, had six points, four rebounds and three assists in 20 minutes. Veilleux, a 5-8 Bradley forward from Cairine Wilson Secondary School, had six points, four rebounds and three assists in 33 minutes. Courthiau, a Wisconsin guard, had six points, three rebounds and two assists in 26 minutes. Kerstein, a 5-8 Wisconsin guard, had six points and six rebounds in 15 minutes.

Bradley shot 26 of 58 from the floor, 9 of 29 from 3-point range and 4 of 5 from the free-throw line. Wisconsin shot 31 of 70 overall, 2 of 18 from beyond the arc and 7 of 10 from the line. Wisconsin held an 11-9 edge in offensive rebounds and an 11-3 advantage in assists. The Badgers committed eight turnovers, while Bradley committed 20. Bradley scored 65 points from 71 possessions and had an offensive rating of 91.1. Wisconsin scored 71 points from 72 possessions and had an offensive rating of 99.0.

Interstat’s game simulator had projected a final score of Bradley 66, Wisconsin 63. Interstat’s ELO system had projected Wisconsin with a 90.7 percent probability to win.