[media-credit name=’YANA PASKOVA/Herald photo’ align=’alignright’ width=’336′][/media-credit]Coming into the 2005 season, it was expected that sophomore guards Jolene Anderson and Janese Banks would provide the Badgers with the one-two scoring punch they provided in their freshman campaigns.

However, it was essentially unknown what could be expected from fellow sophomores Akiya Alexander, Danielle Ward and Shari' Welton.

As the Badgers opened the regular season this weekend with wins over Houston and Cleveland State, the entire sophomore class turned some heads, with Alexander, Ward and Welton stepping up with big games off the bench, and they, too, now have high expectations like Anderson and Banks.

Each of them undoubtedly made their mark this weekend — Ward with a devastating block against Houston that landed in the second row; Welton with her high-flying put-back rebound late against Cleveland State; and Alexander with the energy she brought off the bench and steady contributions on both sides of the court.

While Ward, Welton and Alexander all posted career highs in points Sunday with 14, six and nine, respectively, head coach Lisa Stone still believes it all comes back to team leaders Anderson and Banks.

"[Anderson and Banks] are our super-sophomores, but we have three other sophomores along with them," Stone said. "I think Akiya and Shari' did a nice job, along with Danielle, but Jo and Janese have had their expectations risen and they've handled expectations.

"Both have tuned up their defense. Offensively, they obviously look for each other often. Both can score, both can get to the basket, both can rebound. We … expect a lot out of Janese and Jolene, and what's happening is their work ethic in practice then will propel the rest of the team hopefully to continue a lot more people contributing along with them."

For Houston head coach Joe Curl, who beat this same Wisconsin team a year ago 86-61, the biggest difference in this year's sophomores is their confidence, which he attributes to a year of Big Ten play as freshmen.

"They have a swagger," Curl said. "They have a confidence about them in a year of seasoning, and if you don't get better getting beat up in the Big Ten, you're not going to get better."

Cleveland State head coach Kate Peterson, a former UW assistant (chief recruiting coordinator) from 1998-2003, also noticed the vast improvements this sophomore class has made in just one year.

"Wisconsin is making terrific strides in the right direction," Peterson said. "Their talent is very young and I think probably still experiencing getting to know what they're capable of.

"Danielle Ward has become a new player out there. She's always had the potential, but they're doing a great job of getting that out of her. She was just very raw, and now she's starting to really be a basketball player and make great plays."

Ward arguably may be the one sophomore on the team who has improved her individual game the most since her freshman year. With a double-double Sunday, she knows a lot is expected of her now, but sees it as more of a confidence-builder as she continues to develop her game.

"I know there's a lot expected of me," Ward said. "I knew that I needed to keep playing the way I've been playing the past couple of games and that I needed to make a post presence so, once again, it was just a confidence-builder for me. You kind of feel the pressure, and I guess just stepping up when you're needed to, then everything will fall into place."

Though the sophomore class is putting head coach Lisa Stone's mark on the program in only her third year, Janese Banks isn't impressed one bit — she expected it all along.

"I'm not impressed because I've seen it before," Banks said. "I'm just happy. I'm excited just to know what we've got for the rest of the year. They played awesome, and I know they can play like that, and that's we expect from them."