SPORTS
UW picks right time to get hot
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Also by Jonah Braun:
- UW keeps on rolling, tops IU (February 21, 2008)
- Integrity not Sampson's concern (February 21, 2008)
- Badgers have trouble stopping opponent inside (February 15, 2008)
- Patient Badgers look to move on (February 14, 2008)
- Missouri Valley mediocre at best (February 14, 2008)
Related Stories:
- Border Battle for WCHA Supremacy (October 24, 2003)
- Anderson eclipses school's scoring mark (January 21, 2008)
- Women's hockey team prepares for weekend road match (November 22, 2005)
- Impressive winning streak over (October 23, 2006)
- Badgerball tries to avenge Cram the Kohl loss (February 21, 2002)
by Jonah Braun
Friday, February 22, 2008
After coming off a big win against Indiana — during which
senior Jolene Anderson broke Wisconsin’s all-time scoring record — the Badgers
hope to continue their winning streak as they take on the Minnesota Golden
Gophers Saturday.
In the teams’ first meeting on Jan. 17, Wisconsin could not
keep up with Minnesota’s physical offense and lost by a score of 81-73.
“We have to play more as a team,” sophomore guard Rae Lin
D’Alie said. “I think we’re playing really well right now.”
Indeed, the Badgers are playing well. After starting the Big
Ten season losing six out of its first seven games, Wisconsin has moved to 7-8,
just one win away from reaching the .500 plateau for the first time this
season.
The Badgers will have to display the similar play that
allowed them to run over Indiana. In Wednesday’s game against the Hoosiers, the
Badgers outplayed Indiana in nearly every facet of the game.
“We have to keep doing what we’ve been doing lately,”
Wisconsin head coach Lisa Stone said. “We’re playing really well — our defense
is playing really well switching out on screens. … We’ve got some quality
depth going on right now.”
The depth Stone mentions lies in her bench, which outscored
Indiana’s 27-8 Wednesday night. With a newfound confidence coming from role
players Lin Zastrow, Alyssa Karel, Teah Gant and Mariah Dunham, the Badgers are
finding ways to score without having to completely rely on senior guards
Anderson and Janese Banks.
“You get some experience. You get some confidence,” Stone
said. “We’ve got a nine player rotation right now that is really doing a good
job for us at different times. … Jo and Janese do their thing every night,
and Danielle (Ward) played like an all-American [Wednesday] night. We need
consistency and confidence.”
The Badgers will face the tough task of defending a
resilient backcourt of Leslie Knight and Ashley Ellis-Milan, while
simultaneously having to defend one of the Big Ten’s best guards in Emily Fox.
The Badgers view strong team defense as the most important aspect of the game
against the Gophers.
“We have to pick up our defense and be physical with
Minnesota,” Anderson said. “Minnesota is probably one of the most physical
teams in the Big Ten. They’re going to be playing at home with a lot of energy,
so we really gotta go in there focusing on the defensive end.”
Another point in the Gophers’ favor is Wisconsin’s 2-5 road
record in conference play. Unlike playing at the Kohl Center, the Badgers will
be faced with a lively crowd in the Gophers’ support. Although it’s not a
primary concern for the players, coaching staff has noted it.
“On the court it’s loud, so our players really have to
communicate,” Stone said. “We’ll talk about it — we’re not going to make a
really big deal out of it, but I don’t want the girls to be surprised. … We
need to know that and do something about it right away.”
Wisconsin hopes to finish the season on a positive note, and
with only three games remaining before the Big Ten tournament, and with a win
over the Gophers on Saturday, they would be one step closer to a first round
bye in the tournament.
“We want to win the Big Ten tournament,” Stone said. “We’re
playing really well right now — we’re healthy. We’re playing better. We’re
happy. We have good energy. Adversity and drama are behind us, and we want to
be the hottest team going into the Big Ten tournament.”
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