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UW nets hoops win

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Also by Jonah Braun:

UW tries to end home stand well (December 11, 2007)
Balanced scoring attack leads Badgers over Falcons (December 10, 2007)
Depth evident as entire roster sees action (December 5, 2007)
Badgers to fight Panthers (December 4, 2007)
UW nets hoops win (December 3, 2007)

by Jonah Braun

Monday, December 3, 2007

With the Badgers playing well in seemingly every aspect of their game, the University of Wisconsin's women's basketball team beat Indiana-Purdue Fort Wayne Sunday, 85-69.

Seniors Jolene Anderson and Janese Banks scored 26 and 19 points, respectively, but freshman forward Tara Steinbauer proved to be the team's catalyst, scoring a career-high 16 points and grabbing six rebounds in the victory.

In her first start as a Badger, Steinbauer came out strong, scoring the teams first seven points on her way to 10 first-half points.

"We really just wanted to have some energy, and she's got a personality with energy to start with," Wisconsin head coach Lisa Stone said. "The fact is that she catches the ball and she finishes. It's pretty simple."

With two of its tallest players out due to injuries, IPFW was challenged in the key on seemingly every possession, and it showed, as the Badgers outscored IPFW 40-14 on points in the paint.

"When you look at the size that Wisconsin has and the size that we don't have, we wanted to try to go in," IPFW head coach Chris Paul said. "We just couldn't, because they kept bringing big body after big body after big body off the bench and we just didn't have the ability to score inside."

As a result, the Mastadons were forced to utilize their outside shooters, and wound up firing off a Kohl Center record 37 3-point attempts. This strategy yielded some success for IPFW, which trailed 44-36 at the half, but Wisconsin's post presence was too much for the small IPFW lineup.

In the first half, IPFW shot seven for 19 from beyond the three-point arch, keeping them in the game, but Wisconsin and its tough defense held the Mastadons to 25 percent in the second half.

"I liked the way we started the second half. We came out and hit a shot right away and that helps us," Stone said. "We made some adjustments. … Overall, I'm real proud of our team in coming back home."

The game began with back-and-forth scoring, each team utilizing its strengths to bring the game to 17-15 with 12:51 left in the first half.

The Mastadons were led by star guard Johnna Carlisle-Lewis, who scored 17 points in the first half, making three 3-pointers.

"We talked a lot about [Johnna] Lewis-Carlisle," Stone said. "That's a special player right there. The girl is 5'5'' and has a tremendous hesitation [move], can shoot the three and get to the basket."

But Lewis-Carlisle was not enough to contain an energized Wisconsin team out of the half. With a sense of urgency, and with its starters back on the floor, Wisconsin went on a 23-5 run to extend their lead to 67-41 with 12:59 left in the game.

Jolene Anderson was the star of the second half, scoring 16 points to help the Badgers pull away. Her stat line was very impressive, with eight rebounds and six assists to go along with her point total.

With the Badgers leading by 26, Stone took out the starters and let the bench get playing time.

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