The UW women’s basketball team, looking to pick up its first Big Ten road victory of the season, will head to Indiana tonight to battle the Hoosiers (9-6, 2-4).
After suffering a rash of injuries throughout the season to some of the team’s key players, UW (3-13, 1-5) has mustered a mere three victories on the year. Starting point guard Ashley Josephson, the latest addition to the list of walking wounded, has recently been plagued with chronic back pain. However, she was able to return for 21 minutes against Iowa after missing UW’s previous two games and is expected to play in tonight’s match-up with the Hoosiers, according to UW head coach Jane Albright.
If Josephson’s minutes are limited due to the injury, however, sophomore point guard Shawna Nichols has proven that she can step up and be a key contributor for Wisconsin. Nichols received her first career start on Jan. 19 against Illinois and responded with an outstanding overall performance; totaling nine points, six rebounds, five assists and two steals in 38 minutes of play.
Albright feels confident in her depth at the point guard position and has been impressed with the recent play of Nichols.
” [Nichols] did an excellent job as a leader in the Illinois game and really getting us in our offense,” Albright said. “One of the best things she does is take charge and just show mental toughness on the floor.”
Even with security at the point guard position, boxing out and crashing the boards will be crucial to UW’s success against Indiana and their other remaining opponents.
Coming off one of their most dominating rebounding performances of the season, winning the battle of the boards against Illinois by a margin of 45-21, the team was out rebounded in their following game against the Iowa Hawkeyes, 36-38.
Albright realizes the importance of rebounding and has continued to emphasize its significance throughout the season.
“John Wooden said one of my favorite quotes: ‘It’s not what you teach, it’s what you emphasize,'” she said. “Whether we’re working on offense, defense, anything … we’re always talking about weak side boards and offensive glass.”
“We do feel like we’ve rebounded better out of our man-to-man defense, so we’ve got to get better against our zone. We played more zone in Iowa … and it’s harder for us against a zone; we seem to do better when it’s man and it’s individual responsibility.”
In addition to addressing the rebounding concern, UW will need to find a way to clamp down and contain Indiana’s leading scorer, Jenny DeMuth, and the other Hoosier scoring threats.
“DeMuth is definitely the person who is their leader and scorer. She can really come at you hard on the dribble,” Albright said. “They don’t make as many three-point shots as a lot of the other teams in the conference…So we’ll be trying to take away the high percentage shots in the lane.”
Once the Badgers return from their game with DeMuth and the Hoosiers, they’ll play host Sunday to Arizona. Before the game, which tips off at 1:30 p.m., the annual women’s basketball alumnae game will be held in the Kohl Center at 10:30 a.m.
Getting the opportunity to see some of her former players at the annual event is something Albright looks forward to every year.
“One of my favorite things about coaching is just former players coming back and talking with them about what they’ve got going on in their lives,” Albright said. “We have a real unique group of alumnae; they’re lawyers, they’re doctors, they’re teachers, they’re a lot of different things. It’s really a pleasure meeting their families and their friends.”
The alumnae game is open to the public and admission to the game is free. Several UW players may return from the professional ranks this weekend to play in the annual event, including Tamara Moore, the starting point guard for the Minnesota Lynx.
Between traveling to Indiana, watching the alumnae game and playing host to Arizona Sunday, the team has a busy weekend ahead. If UW can pick up victories in its two games this weekend, it just may be the momentum the team has been looking for to get its season back on track.
