SPORTS
Stone looks to rebound in tourney
Looking for a print version?
Simply choose ‘Print’ on your computer and a printer-friendly document will be generated.
Also by Michael Poppy:
- Stocco awaits Packers' call (May 8, 2007)
- UW has room for progress (May 10, 2007)
- UW not ready for baseball (May 3, 2007)
Related Stories:
- Stone earns 1st postseason bid at UW (March 13, 2007)
- No vacation for Wisconsin (February 20, 2007)
- Badgers' postseason outlook murky (March 5, 2007)
- Kohl Center hosts WNIT (March 16, 2007)
- UW hopes for 3-for-all (March 1, 2007)
by Michael Poppy
Tuesday, February 28, 2006
The UW women's basketball team wrapped up the regular season Sunday and despite it being a heartbreaking 66-63 loss to No. 12 Purdue, head coach Lisa Stone is now prepared for her team to make a run in the Big Ten tournament.
With the loss, the Badgers fell to the No. 9 seed in the tournament and will face eighth seed Penn State Thursday in Indianapolis, Ind.
The Badgers have arguably been playing their best basketball late in the season — even with the loss — and hope to carry it into the conference tournament.
"We're hoping to certainly continue what we've been doing well the last couple weeks," Stone said. "We're going to Conseco Fieldhouse in a brand new season, playing good basketball right now and we've got to carry that in."
In fact, Stone is so confident in her team that she is packing four suits for the trip.
While the winner of the Wisconsin-Penn State game will advance to play top-seeded Ohio State, Stone still feels confident, though she would prefer the team concentrate on one game at a time and not get caught up in looking at the bracket pairings.
"We're just going to take care of Penn State," Stone said. "I told our team after the game, let's get excited now, a brand new season begins, we're playing good basketball, we're relatively healthy, and as we go in there, we look who's in front of us and not what's waiting.
"We need to take of business first on Thursday," Stone added. "We want to go and stay and win and survive and move on."
The Badgers have been playing well in all aspects — primarily defense and rebounding.
"Our defense is at its best right now," Stone said. "We're rebounding, we out rebounded a great Purdue team by 14. The kids are playing with a new level of confidence, the turn is happening, and we're excited about it. We like the momentum and we like the confidence heading into the Big Ten tournament."
One aspect Stone hasn't had to worry about this year is on the offensive side of the ball as Jolene Anderson and Janese Banks have carried the Badgers' scoring load, averaging 17.1 and 12.9 points per game this season.
Anderson has been such a steady scorer that she is already closing in on 1,000 career points in just her sophomore season.
"She is truly amazing," Stone said. "You can't ask any more out of a young woman to do what she is doing and to log the minutes, her body is beat up and banged up just like everybody else and she still brings it every game. She's just a remarkable player and going to get to that 1,000th point pretty quick."
But Anderson's game isn't just about scoring.
Anderson has made a conscious effort to improve her overall game since stepping on campus and she has been making strides, so much that Stone now believes she is also one of the team's best defenders.
"If you look at it statistically, she's our best defensive player, also," Stone said, "whether it's assists, deflections, charges taken or blocked shots outside of Danielle Ward. Her weak side defense is amazing. She's great on the double team. Her perimeter defense and lateral movement has improved this year, which has to do with her conditioning and maturity as a young player.
"Her all-around game has elevated," Stone added. "She's a completely different player than last year, and I think the defensive side of her game is an amazing difference from one year to the next."
