Seven days and two games away from the Big Ten Tournament, the Wisconsin women’s basketball team is ready to rebound from this week’s tough losses.
Wednesday was especially heartbreaking for the Badgers. Within the first two minutes of the Iowa matchup, senior forward Tara Steinbauer’s UW career was ended with a torn ACL in her right knee. When Steinbauer went down, head coach Lisa Stone referred to it as an “emotional stab in the back” to her players.
Steinbauer’s absence on senior day Saturday was arguably even tougher. The Badgers played a physical game but ultimately fell one basket short against an impressive Michigan team, losing 68-66. In her press conference Monday, Stone said the game boiled down to a couple of plays that didn’t go UW’s way.
“You take one or two plays and it could have gone either way,” Stone said. “But the bottom line is Michigan made the plays down the stretch and we didn’t. But again, we’re back into our last full week of practice of the regular season and a reminder of how quickly things go.”
As much as the Badgers will miss the 13 points and eight rebounds per game Steinbauer added, Stone knows that an ACL injury does not limit her abilities to lead off the court.
“Tara is a vocal leader, a leader in the locker room, a statistical leader and just a member of the team that we miss,” Stone said. “I mean, we miss her a lot, but we have to move forward. We have to persevere, that’s a great word, in the face of adversity.”
Although one is out, Wisconsin still has three seniors who are eager for the chance to earn a big win against Indiana Wednesday.
The Hoosiers (9-17, 3-11) have a zone that will give the Badgers a chance to spread the floor and knock down shots. In the last game against Indiana, Stone recorded her 500th win. However, she wasn’t about take all of the credit Monday, as she credited Steinbauer with having her best defensive game of the year. Stone also mentioned her plans of showing the team clips of what Steinbauer did and looks to junior Anya Covington to fill the void defensively.
After Indiana, Wisconsin ends its season with a huge rivalry game at Ohio State (14-12, 9-5).
“They’re playing [at] a very high level. They won at Purdue yesterday. We and they are the only two teams to beat Purdue in the league at Purdue,” Stone said of the Buckeyes.
“We’re treating this as a one-game season. For us right now, it is playoffs. Every game we play right now is a playoff game,” Stone said.