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Patient Badgers look to move on

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Also by Jonah Braun:

Missouri Valley mediocre at best (February 14, 2008)
Comeback falls short as Badgers blow early lead (February 11, 2008)
Knight leaves Tech, legacy stays (February 7, 2008)
Senior powers Badgers (February 5, 2008)
This week in college, losers win (January 31, 2008)

by Jonah Braun

Thursday, February 14, 2008

After a heartbreaking defeat to Ohio State last Sunday, the Wisconsin women’s basketball team looks to bounce back against Illinois Thursday at the Kohl Center. Though Illinois has struggled throughout the season, it has been playing well recently and poses a challenge to an even more troubled Badger team.

Wisconsin head coach Lisa Stone has tried everything to bring the Badgers back to life, and it looked as if she was on the right track when her team won three out of four games prior to its matchup with Ohio State Sunday. Now, the Badgers are in need of victories in order to climb the Big Ten standings.

“It’s — right now — momentum building and take the good from the game into Illinois,” Stone said. “Get back on track, get that confidence back, then go down to the next game, and forge forward into the Big Ten Tournament. And this team, and the way this year’s been, the Big Ten Tournament is going to be crazy.”

In facing Illinois, the Badgers will be challenged by a small and quick lineup featuring Lori Bjork and Jenna Smith, who combine for an average of 25.4 points per game. Like they did against Ohio State, the Badgers will be forced to defend the three-point line, as the Illini are shooting 34.8 percent from behind the arc this season.

“The Illini have a one-two punch inside and out,” Stone said. “They’ve got some athletes on the perimeter that can get on the basket and really defend. So, I think what’s happened is that they’re finding ways right now to win.”

The Badgers do not have much time to make up games in the Big Ten standings. That said, they hope to play an upset role for the rest of the season.

“I like our situation in terms of going into the Big Ten Tournament as long as we continue to take care of each game as it comes,” Stone said. “[We need to] build momentum, play the right and strong kind of basketball at the end of the year, go into that Big Ten Tournament, and make some noise.”

Even after its loss to Ohio State, Wisconsin is right on track to face Illinois. Sticking to their plan this year, the Badgers will continue to fight for their own pride and go into every game better than they were in the last one.

“We have to pick up the pieces and go back and get Illinois here,” Stone continued. “Again, I hope our fans see how hard these kids play and how well they play together and are looking forward to taking the good things from this game into the game against Illinois.”

Even though the Badgers may be out of contention for a Big Ten regular season championship, Stone knows that the team can compete with the better teams in the conference. For now, though, the Badgers must take games one at a time.

“The bottom line is we’ve got to continue to play good basketball at the right time of the year,” Stone said. “And I’m encouraged by that. Our kids, they’re all in the boat. They’re all with us. They’re all continuing to fight. And we’re hopefully going to pick one here at home against a good Illinois team who’s found some success after a couple of bumps in the road for them as well.”

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