Sports

UW picks right time to get hot

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.”