Two weeks ago, Jane Albright said this year’s Badgerball team would employ a press defense for the first time in Albright’s eight-season tenure as Wisconsin’s head coach.

Now, two days before Wisconsin meets No. 17 Washington in the Badgers’ first regular-season game of the new season, the players are the ones who have become excited to try out the new defense.

“I would most definitely love to press, because that’s how it was for me in high school,” senior forward Tamara Moore said.

Moore, who led the Big Ten in steals last year, said excitedly that she’ll play any of the four attacking positions in the full-court press. She expects to start and play mostly as an interceptor, meaning that she’ll help teammates trap and will also try to snipe errant passes.

Against Washington, one of last year’s national quarterfinalists, Wisconsin will rely on its defense to create enough turnovers to make up for the Badgers’ rebounding inadequacies. Wisconsin did not rebound well in either of its preseason games, when both opponents grabbed at least a dozen offensive boards.

With the Huskies’ sophomore center Andrea Lalum tallying more than 20 rebounds in two preseason games, Wisconsin hopes its full- and half-court presses will force Washington’s three-point attack, which has averaged 20 three-point attempts per game, into sloppy passes and poor shots.

“It’s going to be very up-tempo,” Moore said. “It’s going to be working for quick steals, have a taller person on the ball, quick hands. It’s going to be trying to get as many steals as possible, and also making sure that if we don’t get the steals, we hustle back.”

But although the Badgers know what defense they will play, nobody knows who will start the game playing it. Neither Albright, Moore or senior guard Kyle Black knew Thursday whether Albright would start Candas Smith, a point guard who has performed better in practice, or Kristi Seeger, a small forward who has played better.

Should Albright choose Smith, then Moore would start the game at small forward, her natural position. If Seeger starts, however, Moore would begin at point guard, where she started most of last year’s games.

“We’re going to talk [Friday] about what my role is going to be for the first three games and for the rest of the season,” Moore said.

Wherever Moore ends up, her defensive assignment will most likely focus on stopping Washington’s point guard Loree Payne. Payne and Moore have personal ties to each other, since Moore often guarded Payne when they both tried out last summer for the USA World University Games team.

Moore says she still remembers how to defend her old campmate.

“I know Loree; she’s more of a three-point shooter, so I can give up a little bit more penetration than I can the three-pointer,” Moore said.

According to Albright, the Badgers expect Washington to play primarily zone defense, the Huskies’ strategy from last season. However, she cautions against forming a game plan when the only available scouting film comes from the previous season.

“Last year, we actually felt like we over-scouted for our first game based on [the previous] year’s film with Oregon,” Albright said. “Then, when we played the game, they did almost nothing of what we had seen.”

Wisconsin will showcase a new fast-paced philosophy Sunday. But even as the Badgers look ahead to Sunday’s season opener, Albright still hasn’t forgotten about their first-round upset loss last year at the NCAA tournament.

“I think we’re still a little mad from last March,” she said. “I know I am. Washington, they got to the Elite Eight, so they’re feeling pretty good about where they’ve been. We’re still a little irritated about that Missouri game. I thought about that a long time. I’d like to get that taste out.”