It is quite common for athletes who put together solid rookie seasons to suffer a “sophomore slump” during their second season, whether it be on the collegiate or professional level. For Wisconsin sophomore guard Ashley Josephson, however, it has been the exact opposite.

“If you’re not having a good shooting game, other guards will step up, so I’m not looking down on any slumps this year,” Josephson said. “You just need to keep shooting the ball.”

Josephson has already proven herself an integral part of the Badger team and is now counted on as a go-to player when UW is in desperate need of a defensive play or basket. Josephson’s role has changed since a freshman campaign when she ran the show at point guard before being forced to miss eight games last year with a back injury.

This season, with her backcourt mate Stephanie Rich handling the point guard duties, Josephson has switched to shooting guard, and, so far this season, she has not disappointed. She has put up double figures in five of UW’s six games this season, including a career-high 18 points against Hampton at a tournament in Miami.

When all is said and done, though, Josephson is averaging 13.0 points per game, good for second on the team, and has been one of the most consistent scoring threats on the team. While that may come as a surprise to most people, since she scored just nine points in both exhibition games, it is no surprise to Josephson or her coach or teammates.

“I think Ashley Josephson is probably one of our most consistent players,” head coach Lisa Stone said. “Her shot has a lot of confidence in it right now, and I’m real happy with the way Ashley’s playing. She wants to win a ton; her energy on the court and her contributions have been awesome.”

“I don’t know if it’s just me passing her the ball — if that is what’s helping her out so much,” said point guard Stephanie Rich. “She’s really grown up a lot from last year, and she doesn’t play like a sophomore.”

Josephson has become a key ingredient in Wisconsin’s success and shows no signs of faltering.

“I expected that out of Ashley,” Stone said. “I’ve known her since high school, and I know her ability. She’s a tremendous player and great scorer.”

Josephson has placed the team on her back more than once during her career. Last season against Ball State at the Kohl Center, Josephson posted a career-high 17 points. With Wisconsin down a point with time running down, Josephson pulled up for a jumper that barely rolled off the rim.

Josephson would make the most of her opportunity to hit a game-winner when it rolled around Sunday, though. In UW’s game against Iowa State, she played just three minutes in the first half due to foul trouble, but returned in the second half to put up 13 points, including baskets at critical junctures of the game.

Josephson has done most of her damage from beyond the three-point arc this season, as the sophomore has totaled half of her points from the outside.

She does not want to be seen purely as a three-point shooter, though.

“I want to be a complete player. That’s one thing that I talked to my coach about,” Josephson said. “I want to be able to take my player off the dribble, play defense and get some steals, not just, ‘Oh, she can shoot the three once in a while.'”

She still admits that her game shows room for improvement.

“You can always improve, and you are never satisfied or you should never be satisfied with how you play,” Josephson said. “You just got to step up every game and every practice by taking another step forward, and that’s what I’m trying to do everyday.”

While three-point shooting may be one of her specialties, Josephson has clearly demonstrated that on the court, she has more in her arsenal than jump shots. Recently, Josephson has proven her versatility by penetrating to the basket. In UW’s win over Iowa State, for example, she hit a driving layup while being fouled. She is not shy about taking the ball to the hole against taller defenders. By penetrating and drawing defenders, Josephson has continuously found the open player inside or out and, although she stands just 5-foot-8, is not timid about crashing the boards when called upon.

One of the main reasons that she has not shown signs of inconsistency this season is that she continues to remain confident through each practice and game. Josephson explains that you can never be overconfident.

“You can always work on your confidence level. I think my shooting is going well right now, so hopefully it will stay up there,” Josephson said.

Opponents may think twice about sending her to the free-throw line, as well. Josephson calmly completed a three-point play to give Wisconsin a win over Iowa State. She doesn’t go to the free-throw line much, but when she is there, she is deadly. The sophomore has connected on 84 percent of her attempts from the charity stripes, en route to being one of the Big Ten’s best.

Josephson has attributed her success to learning from her teammates, working hard and keeping her head up.

“This summer, me and Steph Rich pushed each other in practices, and we just tried to keep each other up and confident with our shots and aggressive in our basketball ability,” Josephson said.

Wisconsin could have missed out on Josephson’s playmaking abilities, but UW fans are forever grateful that she longed to be a Badger.

“I wasn’t looking at any other Big Ten school seriously; but Drake, where Coach Stone was at, she recruited me from there,” Josephson said. “So that was my No. 2 school I was going to go to, but luckily it all worked out here at Wisconsin. So, that’s good.”