The Badger Herald

SPORTS

Same ol’ story: UW slams UM

Looking for a print version?
Simply choose ‘Print’ on your computer and a printer-friendly document will be generated.

Also by Tyler Mason:

Miami could ruin Pats' perfect mark (December 13, 2007)
Wisconsin hockey continues road woes in Mankato (December 10, 2007)
Hot stove season best time of year (December 6, 2007)
Engel finds niche at new position (December 6, 2007)

by Tyler Mason

Friday, March 2, 2007

INDIANAPOLIS — Three strikes, Michigan's out. The Wisconsin women's basketball team defeated Michigan 81-59 Thursday in the first round of the Big Ten Tournament in Conseco Fieldhouse, marking the third time in as many games the Badgers knocked off the Wolverines this season.

Guard Janese Banks, making a return to her hometown of Indianapolis, led the Badgers offensively, notching a game-high 23 points on 7-of-14 shooting. Fellow junior Jolene Anderson added 22 for UW, including five 3-pointers, along with 10 rebounds.

"We rode the wave of (Jolene) Anderson and (Janese) Banks," UW head coach Lisa Stone said. "I thought Jolene was as much of an All-American as you've ever seen today. Obviously, the two of them are prolific and can put up big numbers."

After giving up 103 points in the regular-season finale against Iowa, defense was stressed heavily entering tournament play. Stone's team answered the challenge, coming out aggressive in the first half. It forced Michigan to just 25 percent shooting and 14 turnovers.

"I'm very, very proud of our basketball team," Stone said. "(We maintained) focus, overcame some first-half jitters of turning the basketball over; our defense was much better in the first half."

While Michigan came out flat in the first half, Wisconsin didn't fare much better, coming away with only 28 points. Aside from poor shooting, the Badgers looked lackadaisical with the ball, committing 11 first-half turnovers.

After building a 14-point lead at 22-8, Wisconsin went into a seven-minute drought where it managed just one point to allow Michigan to creep within six, 23-17. The Indianapolis native Banks, however, answered with a 3, and a layup by Ward with a little more than thirty seconds left pushed the differential back up to 10 heading into the break.

Carrying the late first-half momentum, UW looked like a completely different team in the second half. Wisconsin shot the ball far better after halftime, making 46 percent of their shots, including 6-of-11 from three-point land.

Michigan cut the lead to five early in the second half, but Banks helped fuel a 10-0 run for the Badgers as they began to gain control of the game.

"(Jolene and I) just looked at each other and said, 'We've got to get stops,'" Banks said. "We can't keep trading baskets like this. We've got to do what we do best. I think we started getting stops at about the 10-minute mark, and that's when we really felt like we had the game."

After Anderson hit a floater on the baseline to put UW up by 13, the Badgers never looked back, eventually building a lead as large as 30.

"The second half, we withstood a Michigan run," Stone said. "Again, I'm proud of our players for that. Their confidence on both ends of the floor prevailed. This is a great test for a very young team with no seniors."

As was typical of the Michigan team all season, head coach Cheryl Burnett substituted her players early and often, with ten players seeing at least ten minutes of playing time. Although the balanced attack certainly created a variety of defensive matchups, the lack of a go-to player ultimately doomed the Wolverines in the end, as their leading scorer, center Krista Phillips, was held to just five points.

"Coming into the Michigan game, we knew our defense had to be prolific," Banks said. "They've got a very athletic team, they attack the basket hard. I think our mentality going into this game was defense, and I think we maintained it."

Anderson and Banks had plenty of help offensively. Danielle Ward, who was especially effective on the defensive side of the ball, also played well on offense, scoring 11 points and pulling down nine rebounds. Teammate Mariah Dunham came away with her first collegiate double-double: 10 points and a career-high 10 boards.

Forwards Carly Benson and Stephany Skrba were the only two Wolverines to score in double-figures, with 11 and 10 points, respectively.

Up next, Wisconsin will face the No. 2-seeded Purdue, a team that, behind 41 points from Katie Gearlds, defeated Wisconsin 69-60 at the Kohl Center Feb. 18. Tip-off is set for 11 CT today.

Add a comment

We welcome your thoughts, but please keep your feedback thoughtful, on-topic and respectful. Offensive language, personal attacks, or irrelevant comments may be deleted.