Wisconsin
Wisconsin women’s hockey shakes off rust, wears down Merrimack to open the new year
MADISON – Playing its first game since Dec. 9, it took the Wisconsin women’s hockey team some time to shake off the rust.
But during the second half of the Badgers’ game with Merrimack Friday night, the team was well on its way to regaining its form.
Third-ranked UW (15-4) scored five goals during the final 30 minutes and recorded a 6-1 victory over the Warriors in front of a crowd of 2,273 at La Bahn Arena.
Junior Lacey Eden (two goals, one assists) and senior Katie Kotlowski (three assists) recorded three-point nights and sophomore Laila Edwards scored twice for the Badgers. Freshman Cassie Hall (one goal, one assist), senior Britta Curl (one goal, one assists) and senior Casey O’Brien (two assists) also had two-point nights for UW.
BOX SCORE: Wisconsin 6, Merrimack 1
Perhaps the most important of those scores was Eden’s, which came 12 seconds after Merrimack took a 1-0 lead in the first period.
“It just shows how our team handles adversity when we get scored on,” she said. “We don’t hold over, we go right back at it the next shift. To get that one really changed the momentum of the game right away.”
Edwards added the game-winner at the 13:09 mark of the second period off passes from Kotlowski and O’Brien. Curl added insurance with a score at the 17:54 mark of that period.
UW punctuated the night with goals by Eden, Hall and Edwards during the final 4 minutes.
“I was super excited to get back going with the team,” Edwards said. “I’ve missed playing with them. It’s been almost a month. I think we’re excited to get this second half of the year going and hopefully get that national championship at the end, but it all starts here in these games and what we work on to get better.”
Wisconsin didn’t put up a lot of goals until the last few minutes, but its defense steadily improved. UW allowed just nine shots during the final two periods. Junior goaltender Jane Gervais had 17 saves.
It was a much-needed evening on the ice for a team that returns to WCHA play next week.
“We were practicing well, but it’s tough to simulate game competition,” Wisconsin coach Mark Johnson said. “The first period was shaking the cobwebs out, getting back into the swing of things. … We needed to get our legs back, the timing down, and eventually as the game wore on that’s what happened.”
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Wisconsin men’s basketball has added a sharpshooting wing via the transfer portal.
Miami (Ohio) transfer Eian Elmer has signed with the Badgers, the team announced April 18. The 6-foot-7 wing will join UW with one year of eligibility remaining.
Elmer averaged a career-high 12.7 points and 5.9 rebounds while shooting 49.8% from the field and 42.9% from 3-point range in 2025-26. His production helped the RedHawks go 32-2 and earn an at-large NCAA Tournament bid.
“We are really excited to add another excellent addition to our spring signees,” UW coach Greg Gard said in a release. “Eian brings a wealth of experience and scoring punch as a 6-7 wing. … A terrific shooter, his skillset and production fit excellently into our plan as we build out next year’s team. Throughout our evaluation process, our staff loved his size, power and skill and truly believe he will thrive in our system.”
Elmer is Wisconsin’s third transfer portal addition since the end of the 2025-26 season, joining former George Washington guard Trey Autry and former Hofstra forward Victory Onuetu. UW also added Australian guard Owen Foxwell.
The additions of Autry, Onuetu and now Elmer leave Gard’s staff with three more roster spots to fill ahead of the 2026-27 season.
The Badgers are looking to replace much of their production from a 2025-26 team that went 24-11. Nolan Winter is expected to be the team’s only returning starter after John Blackwell and Aleksas Bieliauskas entered the transfer portal and Nick Boyd and Andrew Rohde exhausted their eligibility.
MILWAUKEE – Friday’s severe storms have passed. And with that, the threat of any severe weather has also passed for the immediate future as no storms or rain are expected for several days.
However, plenty of damage remains across southeastern Wisconsin as of Saturday morning, in addition to the ongoing flooding threat.
Several area rivers are at flood stage, and there are multiple river flood warnings in effect.
FOX6 Weekend WakeUp on Saturday begins at 6 a.m.
On the scene in the morning
What we know:
Farmstead damage in Franklin
FOX6’s Hayley Spitler is in Franklin on Saturday morning, April 18, getting a daylight look at the damage from last night’s storms.
Storm damage in Caledonia
Friday’s storms left quite the mark across southern and southeastern Wisconsin, including at L and L Farms and Greenhouse in Caledonia.
FOX6 Weather Extras
Local perspective:
Meanwhile, FOX6Now.com offers a variety of extremely useful weather tools to help you navigate the stormy season. They include the following:
FOX6 Storm Center app
FOX LOCAL Mobile app
FOX Weather app
Maps and radar
We have a host of maps and radars on the FOX6 Weather page that are updating regularly — to provide you the most accurate assessment of the weather. From a county-by-county view to the Midwest regional radar and a national view — it’s all there.
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School and business closings
When the weather gets a little dicey, schools and businesses may shut down. Monitor the latest list of closings, cancellations, and delays reported in southeast Wisconsin.
FOX6 Weather Experts in social media
The Source: Information in this post was compiled by the FOX6 Weather Experts.
How Aleksas Bieliauskas has grown in first season with Wisconsin Badgers
Wisconsin coach Greg Gard has high praise for Aleksas Bieliauskas about a month into the Lithuania native’s freshman season.
MADISON – One of Wisconsin men’s basketball’s departing transfers is headed to an SEC program with some connections to the Badgers.
Ex-UW forward Aleksas Bieliauskas has committed to South Carolina, he announced on April 17.
Bieliauskas left the Badgers after appearing in all 35 games as a freshman and making 28 starts. He averaged 4.9 points and 4.4 points in 20.2 minutes, and highlights of his freshman year included his five 3-pointers in UW’s upset over eventual national champion Michigan.
He’ll join a program with plenty of Wisconsin ties. South Carolina head coach Lamont Paris was an assistant coach at Wisconsin from 2010-17 on Bo Ryan and Greg Gard’s staffs. South Carolina assistant coach Tanner Bronson and director of video services Roman DiPasquale also are UW alumni.
Bieliauskas is the second of UW’s four departing transfers to commit to a new school. Reserve forward Jack Robison committed to North Dakota State on April 15. Starting guard John Blackwell and reserve forward Riccardo Greppi have not announced their next schools yet.
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