The Badgers’ 51-52 loss to Indiana was a fitting end to a season in which pride was found in fighting hard, but the reality was the team just kept coming up short.

The 2002-03 women’s basketball season began after a few unsightly exhibition losses, a 2-5 record, and then the team went on a seven-game losing streak.

The 2-12 Badgers were only able to muster up wins against the University of Texas-Arlington and Eastern Illinois, but they were not going to give up on the season.

After the Big Ten conference season started with four consecutive losses, the team began to come together, winning four of its next six games. With a 4-6 conference record, the Badgers were positioned in the middle of the Big Ten and were looking to gain some momentum heading into the Big Ten tournament.

Only one win in their last seven games gave the Badgers the ninth seed in the tournament, but the seeding was the least of their problems by the end of the season.

Head coach Jane Albright announced her resignation Feb. 25, effective at the end of the season. The announcement came in the midst of a five-game losing streak that would end the Badgers’ postseason. After nine years at UW, Albright was told that she would not be getting a contract extension when her contract ended at the end of next season, and, in turn, she resigned. After a 7-20 regular-season finish and a first-round exit in the Big Ten tourney, Albright’s legacy at UW had ended.

“It was a very rewarding season and a very rewarding nine seasons at Wisconsin,” Albright said. “This is a great conference to coach in with great coaches and great student athletes. It has been very enjoyable.”

The Badgers end the season looking for a new coach, but they entered it looking to fill the void left by team MVPs Tamara Moore and Jessie Stomski. It became apparent early in the season that the Badgers did not have the offensive firepower to replace these graduates.

Sophomore guard Stephanie Rich was the only Badger to average double digits in scoring, with 11.9 points per game. Junior center Emily Ahsbaugh and sophomore forward Ebba Gebisa were the only other players from last year’s team to have an injury-free season, averaging 8.9 and 7.3 points per game, respectively.

“When you talk about a team that lost so much experience, we’ve got a lot of basketball players on this team,” Albright said. “I saw them do some things to make other people better. I saw a lot of real positive things.”

Injuries hurt the Badgers for most of the season, as both senior leaders were forced to spend time on the bench. Captains Kristi Seeger, who suffered a leg injury, and Leah Hefte, who dislocated her shoulder, had to help this youthful Badger team from the sidelines.

“I think all the upperclassmen have taken over the leadership roles really well,” Hefte said. “We’ve tried to just provide a good example to the younger girls on the team and show what it takes to play Big Ten basketball.

So young were the Badgers that freshman Ashley Josephson became the team’s starting point guard and Jordan Wilson became a big role player off the bench.

Josephson led the team in free-throw shooting with a .938 percentage, and Wilson averaged 3 points and nearly 3 rebounds per game in 14 minutes of play. Even the freshmen couldn’t stave off injury, however, as Josephson missed eight games with back spasms.

Junior transfer Lello Gebisa quite literally became the biggest impact player for the Badgers this season. At 6-foot-7, she became the tallest woman to ever play in the Big Ten.

Beginning the preseason with domination, Gebisa earned a starting spot and averaged 9.6 points, 6.2 rebounds and a Big-Ten-leading 2.04 blocks per game. Her height down low gave the Badgers extra support defensively all season.

The 2002-03 season began for the Badgers with a 2-point road loss to Northern Illinois and a blow-out loss to nationally ranked UW-Green Bay. The Badgers rebounded from the tough losses by making it to the finals of the Pepperdine tournament. After that, a 1-point loss to Ball State at home visibly hurt the team’s morale, as UW missed a shot when time expired.

The Badgers continued to hold most games close through the first half, if not the entire game. It was their inability to prevent teams from having big second-half runs that can be seen in their record.

The Badgers turned their game up a notch in the Big Ten season, winning three conference games in a row at Indiana and Northwestern and then defeating Michigan at home. At the end of this mid-season streak, however, the Badgers would only win one more game all year.

The Big Ten tournament, which concluded last weekend, had the Badgers face Indiana for the third time this season. After beating the Hoosiers in Bloomington, the Badgers lost at home by a point and would lose again by a single point in the tourney. The loss marked an end of an era for women’s basketball and the end of a rough season for these Badgers.

Possible Graphics box entitled “The highs and lows”

-Set a school-record hitting 10-12 (.833) 3-pointers against Washington

– Scored a record low 42 points at home against Ohio State

-Made 17-17 (1.000) free throws against Arizona

-Gave up a Kohl Center record 11 3-pointers to UW-Green Bay

-7-20 regular-season record; worst since 1992