MADISON, Wis. -- The Maverick women's hockey team was defeated 7-2 en route to suffering a series sweep in a Western Collegiate Hockey Association game on the road at No. 3-rated Wisconsin, Saturday afternoon.

MSU falls to 12-17-1 overall and 8-17-1 in the WCHA with their sixth consecutive loss. UW improves to 23-4-4 with a 17-4-3 record in league action.

The first period was a scoreless one in Madison. MSU junior netminder Calla Frank and the Mavericks' penalty kill stood tall from the get-go to successfully kill off a pair of minor penalties in the opening period. UW outshot MSU 13-3 in the first period.

The Badgers hit the ice with speed in the middle period, scoring three goals to take a commanding 3-0 lead five minutes in. Then, the Mavericks broke through to enter the score column following a big backdoor save from Frank, which led Kennedy Bobyck down the ice with her linemates, where her drop pass in the Badgers' zone led to Kelsey King picking up an assist once she found Brittyn Fleming to shrink the gap to 3-1 at 7:48 of the second period. At 14:40, King brought the Mavericks within one of the Badgers, 3-2, on a wicked backhand that found the top of the cage. UW reclaimed its two-goal lead, 4-2, with a goal from Casey O'Brien, which was scored with 17.5 seconds remaining in the middle period.

In the third period, the Badgers put the game away with a pair of goals 31 seconds apart as well as a third dagger at 12:38 of the final period. The game ultimately concluded in a final score of 7-2.

The Badgers outshot the Mavericks 40-9 in Saturday's finale. The face-off margin also sided with UW, 22-16. 

In between the pipes for the Badgers, Kennedy Blair, now 20-4-4 this season, made seven saves on nine shots for the victory. For MSU, Frank, now 10-15-1 on the season, repeated on her save count from game one of the series when she had 33 stops in the series finale.

Neither side scored with an advantage on Saturday. MSU was 0-1 while UW finished 0-2.

The Mavericks wrap up the regular season next weekend, Friday and Saturday, when they play host to Bemidji State at Mayo Clinic Health System Event Center.

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