Sports: Women's Basketball

Despite 8-game streak, Wisconsin not satisfied

Despite having won eight gmaes in a row, the Wisconsin women’s basketball team still has a lot to improve on before the start of Big Ten play, according to head coach Lisa Stone.

One glaring example is the Badgers’ inability to maintain large leads in the second half over the last few games.

First, against UW-Milwaukee last Tuesday, Wisconsin (8-1) led by as many as 16 points, only to let the Panthers fight back and force a pair of overtimes before the Badgers came away with the two-point victory.

It happened again Thursday against Virginia Tech as UW led by 17 midway through the second half only to have to hold off a Hokie rally to come away with the nine-point victory.

Finally, in Sunday’s afternoon tilt with Northern Illinois, the team led by as many as 20 points in the second half, yet they only won by six.

“We can’t let up like that,” Stone said in her Monday press conference. “We have to stay focused defensively and offensively for 40 minutes. We took the gas pedal [and] let loose on it a little bit and did not allow ourselves to keep pressing.”

The problem against NIU, according to Stone, was a lack of effort leading to offensive opportunities for the Huskies.

“We stopped hedging hard on ball screens and gave up the paint,” Stone said. “We didn’t get rebounds — I believe they outrebounded us 13-2 down the stretch.”

On the plus side for the Badgers, they have managed to win their last eight games, and playing the way they have been late in ball games gives Stone and the players a lot to work on and a lot of room for improvement before conference play begins in two weeks.

“[There is] a lot to teach on,” Stone said. “We get the ‘W,’ and we’re happy about that, but when film happens … there’s a lot to be taught. We need to be concerned with us and get prepared for Green Bay, but [there is] a lot to learn from because we let up and we can’t let up.”

Badgers remain humble despite streak

After winning eight consecutive games and knocking off then-No. 6 Baylor, the Wisconsin women’s basketball team has let everyone know that they are not a team that can be overlooked by anyone.

Yet despite their success, the Badgers have placed a lot of emphasis on continuing to work hard and not resting on their laurels early in the season.

“We talk about staying humble,” Stone said. “We haven’t done anything yet, and we’ve got to continue to get better. I think there is daily growth, and I’m very encouraged by our players.”

Wisconsin also knows that with a high-profile win like the one over Baylor, it can’t stay under the radar any longer. Every team UW plays the rest the season will know what Stone’s squad is capable of, and the Badgers will have to work that much harder.

“When you knock off someone like Baylor and you’re not supposed to, it catches somebody’s eye when that happens,” Stone said. “You can be the hunter or the hunted, [but] really for us, it’s just daily growth. We focus on what we do and try to have our team get better every day.”

UW players gaining confidence

With every win in their current eight-game streak, the Wisconsin Badgers have grown more and more confident in their own abilities. As one player grows more confident, the others follow, and it has shown on the court as UW continues to play better basketball.

“I talked about having confidence become contagious,” Stone said. “That’s important for us for growth. They are a great group, [and] they really want to get better. They were, I think, happy we won [Sunday], but [they knew] that second half was something we can improve on.”

Over the last few games, the Wisconsin offense has shown dramatic improvement, including an impressive 41 points in the first half Sunday on 17-of-23 shooting (73.9 percent) and a Kohl Center record 61.9 percent shooting from the field for the game.

The important thing for the Badgers to do, according to Stone, is to establish some level of consistency in their confidence on a nightly basis.

“We live in the moment; we live right here for today,” Stone said. “[We try to] not let our highs get too high and not let our lows get too low, but keep trying to develop a consistent level of confidence. I think that goes a long way.”