Almost two months ago, I wrote that the Wisconsin women’s basketball team was a lock for the NCAA tournament. Since that date, the Badgers have responded by going 6-6 to finish the season. No wonder nobody ever asks me about my crystal ball.
However, I’m not about to abandon my prediction. Yes, the Badgers deserve to head to the Big Dance later this month. After all, two of those six losses were to Big Ten champions Ohio State, the latter of which came last Saturday in the conference tourney, where the Badgers led for a good portion of the game before falling apart down the stretch. In addition, Wisconsin also battled Iowa before falling in overtime Feb. 28 and lost to Purdue on a last-second bucket Feb. 7.
So why do I remain convinced that, come Selection Monday, these Badgers will find themselves among the select 64 programs given the opportunity to go dancing?
For one, Wisconsin has maintained its reputation as a defensive powerhouse. No surprise there. However, this season saw the Badgers’ defensive presence extend beyond numbers and statistics.
Sure, finishing the season as the No. 26 scoring defense in the nation, more than four points better than any other Big Ten team, is a testament to the philosophy and commitment exemplified by these Badgers, but it is their mindset that sets them apart from years past. Wisconsin not only wants to keep its opponents from putting the ball in the hoop, it wants to disrupt their offense altogether.
“I think a lot of other teams really like to run it across the nation and work it,” senior guard Rae Lin D’Alie said. “Our team in particular, we’re a ‘slow you down, make you run your sets’ kind of team.”
The Badgers have not made the NCAA tournament since the 2001-02 season. After enduring 31 games of grind-it-out, run-your-sets basketball, Wisconsin finds itself better prepared for postseason play than it has been since that 2001-02 campaign.
Yearning to return to March Madness, this year’s Badger squad also finds itself departing somewhat from the one-game-at-a-time mindset that has permeated the program under head coach Lisa Stone, as well as most of the UW athletic department. Time and again, such a philosophy has proved invaluable to UW programs, as Badger teams generally exude a balanced, focused mentality. However, on the brink of the Big Dance, Wisconsin finds itself looking toward the tournament.
“I think it has to be that we’re going to make the tournament,” junior guard Alyssa Karel said of UW’s mindset. “I think our mindset needs to be that, just so we go into practice knowing that we’re preparing for something. I guess nothing’s concrete until Monday, but I think we’re in the mindset that we’re still preparing for the NCAA tournament and we got to come into practice, come into lift with that intensity.”
In addition to their traditionally stout defense, these Badgers have exceeded expectations on the offensive end. After facing questions all offseason about Stone’s new “four-out, one-in” offense, UW responded with a balanced scoring attack unseen in previous years. While Karel, as the Badgers’ offensive sparkplug, once again led the team with 14.4 points per game, three of the remaining four starters increased their scoring averages to exceed eight points per game: D’Alie and junior forwards Tara Steinbauer and Lin Zastrow.
Close followers of Wisconsin this season will tell you that while the Badgers have enjoyed balanced scoring, a tendency to struggle offensively near the end of tight games has resulted in an unacceptable amount of losses. Down the stretch, UW does occasionally look lost on offensive, indicating a possible lack of a go-to, impact scorer.
However, regarding such a notion as an absolute truth would not do justice to the squad Stone has put together in possibly her finest season in Madison. As evidenced by her higher scoring numbers, Karel is more than capable of carrying the offense for stretches.
In addition, the Badgers have options off the bench with impact freshman Taylor Wurtz living up to the hype that preceded her arrival, averaging 6.5 points in an average of 16.5 minutes per game.
Clearly, the Badgers are intent on escaping the mediocrity that has defined their last eight seasons.
“I think a lot of people have recognized that we’ve already exceeded our expectations for this year, as far as being picked tenth in the Big Ten and finishing fourth,” Steinbauer said. “For us, going into, hopefully, the NCAA, it’s not just about the fact that we’ve made it to the NCAA, we want to go far within there.
“We’re not going to be satisfied getting, you know, an eighth seed and winning our first game. We want to get as far as we possibly can, and that’s what how we’ve been going at practices every day.”
With such a mindset, postseason success no longer seems so out of reach. This year, UW has moved beyond the media-friendly clich?s and has actually grown as a team. With last season marked by the dismissal of forward Mariah Dunham and recent years seeming to lack the Aglueg all successful teams have, Wisconsin has seemingly found the secret to improving team chemistry.
“We haven’t let things, or rough games, rough times divide us,” Karel said. “We’ve just been a really solid group and I think that’s what I’m most proud about; the season’s long and you’re usually bound to get annoyed with people — we’re as happy as we were in the beginning of the season, we’re having fun with each other and sticking together as a real team.”
So there you have it. Come Monday, Wisconsin will know its fate — either March Madness or the WNIT. Regardless, though, one thing is certain: the Badgers deserve to play in the NCAA tournament.
Mike is a sophomore planning on majoring in journalism. Agree that the Badgers have earned a berth in the NCAA tournament? Let him know at [email protected].
