With the Badgers clinging to a two-point lead at halftime, head coach Lisa Stone told her team to step up their defense, and they did just that. Wisconsin mixed together a full-court press and a swarming half-court defense to gain enough momentum to hold off a late charge by a determined Minnesota State-Moorhead team Sunday.
“I thought we stepped up our defense a lot … we were still being a little wheezy the first half on our defense,” junior forward Jordan Wilson said. “Communication picked up (in the second half); we all knew who had each other’s back, and I thought we were rotating a lot better.”
The Dragons were breathing fire down the Badgers’ neck for most of the game, as the first half included seven ties and seven lead changes. UW played stellar defense and shot the ball well throughout the first 20 minutes, but the Dragons were able to keep the lead from reaching double digits by crashing the boards and shooting lights-out from the free throw line.
On the game, the Dragons grabbed 11 more boards than the Badgers (44-33), including 13 offensive rebounds. The Dragons also converted 18 of 22 shots from the charity stripe, with the Badgers shooting just 7 of 13 for 53 percent.
“The good thing is these statistics don’t count,” Stone said. “So we’ll start fresh on Friday and hopefully start at an 80 percent clip.”
“We’ll be doing lots of box-out drills this week,” she continued. “When the ball was in the air, we were just jumping up and down; we looked like a trampoline out there.”
Wisconsin started off the second half continuing to hit its shots, and the Badgers finally awoke on defense.
The Badgers, applying a full-court press to start the second half, frustrated the Dragons into even more turnovers and rushed shots. Turnovers, along with a 31-8 run to start the second half, allowed Wisconsin a comfortable cushion, and the Dragons were forced to play catch-up for the rest of the game.
“I thought we came out with some fire in our eyes, and we made progress,” Stone said. “We are going to win games by playing defense, and we are going to sell that until it’s no longer for sale.”
The Dragons turned the ball over 21 times for the game, which led to 12 Badger steals, with 3 takeaways each by Stephanie Rich and Jolene Anderson. Minnesota State’s turnovers also provided Wisconsin with 22 free points, including ten in the second stanza.
“I’m encouraged by defense sparking offense and easy opportunities,” Stone said.
As a team, Wisconsin only committed nine turnovers compared to 23 in its loss to AAU last week. To make up for the Dragons’ advantage on the boards and at free-throw line, the Badgers combined their superb defensive effort in the second half with a balanced offense, in which eight of ten players who saw action scored.
Some, like freshman forward Shari’ Welton, scored their first points of the season, while others showed an improved performance or picked up right where they left off from last week. Welton finished with seven points after being held scoreless last week. Freshman guard Akyia Alexander saw limited minutes in Wisconsin’s loss to AAU due to foul trouble. This time around she scored seven points, most off floaters down the lane.
Freshman guard Jolene Anderson once again gave fans an outstanding showing with 17 points, three steals, four assists and was one rebound short of her second collegiate double-double. Anderson also nailed three shots from long range, one to start the second half that provided the spark for Wisconsin to make their runs. Jordan Wilson displayed a variety of post moves from turnarounds to hook shots in scoring 19 points, including six of Wisconsin’s first eight points. Wilson and the Badgers outscored the Dragons in the paint 40-12.
“Everybody’s going to play; we have 11 people, and all we need is that everybody can play,” Stone said. “And everybody’s going to have their day in the sun.”
While Stone was happy with the Badgers’ play, especially in the second half, she noted improvements still needed to be made before this Friday’s home opener.
“Our impatience offensively got better in the second half,” Stone said. “We did a decent job taking care of the ball and came away with the win, but again, much to work on.”
