SPORTS
Depth evident as entire roster sees action
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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)
Related Stories:
- Anderson turns in career-best performance in thriller (December 13, 2004)
- Generations cross as Anderson makes debut for UW (November 8, 2004)
- Balanced attack leads UW (December 12, 2007)
- Injured teammates open door for skillful Anderson (January 15, 2006)
- Stone: Anderson needs to step up on both ends (February 15, 2005)
by Jonah Braun
Wednesday, December 5, 2007
The Badgers have been relying on Jolene Anderson since her freshman year at Wisconsin. Unfortunately for UW, Anderson shot 3-of-12 from the field Tuesday night, notching a season-low 11 points against UW-Milwaukee.
With Anderson's lack of offensive presence against UWM, the Badgers needed another player to lead their team to victory over their in-state rival.
Luckily for Wisconsin, its other two seniors showed up to play.
Seniors Janese Banks and Danielle Ward each recorded and tied their season highs with 23 and 10 points respectively, leading the Badgers to a commanding 79-59 victory.
The two seniors knew that with Anderson not playing up to her normal standards, it was important for them to take charge of the game and pull together the team to make up for their star teammate's atypical performance.
"I think Jolene knew that if she was struggling, her teammates would be there to rally behind her," Banks said. "She wasn't here tonight, and everyone has those nights. If she were up here, she'd be saying the same thing — that we would be behind her 100 percent."
Compared to her 22.4 points per game average, Anderson's performance was anything but impressive. Without the other seniors' contributions, the game could have looked different.
Banks took charge from the start of the game, leading the Badgers when Anderson was on the bench. The senior forward led both teams in scoring, and Wisconsin head coach Lisa Stone did not let that point go unnoticed.
"Janese Banks was on fire and our team found her, and I thought she did a great job on getting on the offensive boards and got nice put backs, made her free throws and did some nice things for us," Stone said.
Ward's presence on the floor was felt right from the start, when the opening tip-off went to her for an easy lay-up, followed by an impressive block on the defensive end of the court.
Ward, who usually is not a main source of offense for Wisconsin, grabbed six rebounds and had three blocks. She also saw Anderson's seeming inability to score as an opportunity for the other players to step up offensively.
"Of course we want Jolene to do what she has to do, but we just have to do whatever it takes to win the game," Ward said. "Even when someone is back on the boards, or points, or whatever, we just have to do whatever we can do to win."
Matched up against UWM star Traci Edwards, Ward used her athletic ability to contain the powerful forward.
"She's very athletic," Edwards said. "I liked coming in and playing against her, it was a good match-up for the most part, and we played to our advantages."
Banks and Ward, however, were not the only significant contributors in the victory. Sophomore guard Rae Lin D'Alie had an impressive stat line, registering eight points, seven assists and six rebounds.
"Rae was great, she gave us the energy," Stone said. "I give her the keys to the car, and I tell her to take over and drive that team. I thought she had great energy and made tremendous decisions, especially in the second half."
Above all, the Badgers have the ability to win without Anderson being the only source of offense. In fact, in beating Milwaukee, 11 of 15 Badgers scored.
"I think Lisa has done a nice job with this team," UW-Milwaukee head coach Sandy Botham said. "There's no doubt that she's got the most depth she's ever had, and they have a lot of different options now, which makes them that much more dangerous."
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