SPORTS
Last chance for Badgerball to gain postseason momentum
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Also by Justin Susdorf:
- Last chance for Badgerball to gain postseason momentum (February 19, 2002)
- UW holds tennis tournament (February 11, 2002)
- Inconsistency contributes to UW's rocky season (October 15, 2001)
- Men's soccer slows after perfect start (October 4, 2001)
Related Stories:
- Badgerball tries to avenge Cram the Kohl loss (February 21, 2002)
- Texas Tech tries to recapture past glory (February 15, 2002)
- Albright tries to figure out what went wrong (February 26, 2002)
- Despite recent losses, Badgerball invited to dance (March 11, 2002)
- Wisconsin women's basketball team making progress (February 5, 2003)
by Justin Susdorf
Tuesday, February 19, 2002
After Sunday’s 78-62 road loss to 17th-ranked Texas Tech, the University of Wisconsin women’s basketball team is prepared to finish the regular season strong.
Despite losing seven of their last eight games, the Badgers look forward to redeeming themselves on the court when they visit Minnesota Feb. 21.
UW head coach Jane Albright admits Texas Tech is a hostile environment for visiting teams, but she feels UW can learn from Sunday’s loss. “I think we’ve learned some things, and we just need to execute better,” she said.
Albright also acknowledges that basketball is ultimately a game of performance. She expects more out of her team than merely learning from previous defeats and knowing what needs to be done.
At such a critical juncture in the season, Albright realizes her experienced players must convert their understanding into solid and consistent play on the court. “We really need to concentrate on how we perform these next few games,” she said.
Coach Albright views this week’s contest as a chance to alter the course of their fading season.
“We are going to have to be at our best to match up with [Minnesota],” said Albright “We’ve got two seniors going home, playing in their state, at a place where they have always traditionally played pretty well at, so it will be a great opportunity for us to go [to Minnesota] and turn things around.”
Senior leaders Tamara Moore and Jessie Stomski both hail from Minnesota. The Badgers will rely on them heavily against Minnesota and, more importantly, as they begin preparing for the postseason. With only two remaining road games before the Big Ten Tournament in Indianapolis, the Badgers seem to recognize that they must focus on these upcoming contests more than on the NCAA tournament.
The Badgers hope to keep their performance at a high level while preparing for their two upcoming conference challenges against Minnesota and Ohio State. Coach Albright looks for her team to come out with the same energy it showed in last week’s 80-47 drubbing of Northwestern. She emphasized that UW needs to come away with two wins, but she addressed the prospect of an NCAA tournament bid by acknowledging that her team’s fate will be decided by a committee.
“[The members of the NCAA selection committee] have more information than I do, so I’m just pretty much focused on us,” said Albright. “Any win you can get this time of year makes you more comfortable wherever you are.”
UW will have their hands full when they travel to Williams Arena to play the 19th-ranked Golden Gophers Thursday. Coach Albright looks forward to seeing her team take the court in an attempt to both upset rival Minnesota and show that the Badgers’ once-promising season has not yet been lost.
Sunday’s loss drops the 25th-ranked Badgers’ overall record to 17-8. UW stands fourth in the Big Ten with a conference record of 8-6.
