Independent Student Newspaper Since 1969

The Badger Herald

Independent Student Newspaper Since 1969

The Badger Herald

Independent Student Newspaper Since 1969

The Badger Herald

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Despite recent losses, Badgerball invited to dance

When she heard head coach Jane Albright comment Sunday on the good health of the UW women’s basketball players, starting center Emily Ashbaugh reacted by immediately rapping her knuckles on the table in front of her. Mere hours after receiving an invitation to play for the NCAA national championship, it seems the Badgers are content to greet the news with little more than a gentle knock on wood.

“It’s just a chance to prove what type of team this is,” senior forward Tamara Moore said. “I don’t think we go in there anxious or urgent or anything like that. We’re just going to know that everybody’s 0-0, and it’s a chance to prove a little bit more.”

Despite losing nine of their last 10 regular-season games, the Badgers received the No. 8 seed in the Midwest region. They’ll tip the tournament off Saturday at 7:35 p.m. in Nashville against ninth-seeded Arizona State, which won the Pac-10 tournament earlier this month. Wisconsin joins Purdue, Penn State, Minnesota, Iowa and Indiana as the Big Ten’s six representatives to the tournament.

“I think it’s a very honest, good seed for us,” Albright said. “I don’t think we deserved any better and I don’t think we deserved any less.”

Wisconsin hasn’t played Arizona State this season, but both teams competed in the Virgin Islands Paradise Jam tournament in November. And when Albright coached at Northern Illinois University, the Sun Devils’ best player, Amanda Levens, was a regular at Albright’s basketball camps.

“She’s a great player,” Albright said. “She kind of had one of those going-off games against Stanford [in the Pac-10 tournament], which in my opinion is why they won that game. She’s a fifth year senior [who is] very mature. [She’s] a great inside-outside player [and a] very, very good guard.”

Should the Badgers defeat the Sun Devils, they would most likely meet top-seeded Vanderbilt in the second round. Maryalyce Jeremiah, who heads the selection committee, said Sunday that the committee rated Vanderbilt lowest among the other three top seeds. But in five previous tournament appearances, Wisconsin has never advanced past the second round.

After the brackets came out Sunday afternoon, Albright and the players didn’t seem elated or even excited. They seemed relieved. After all, the Badgers needed wins over Northwestern and Minnesota in the Big Ten tournament just to ensure an invitation to the Big Dance. And with Albright apparently ready to skip the NIT, the Badgers’ hopes of extending their season came down to the NCAA tournament.

“Last year was my first time there,” senior Jessie Stomski said. “[For] a lot of people on the team, it was their first time in the tournament. So this time we know what to expect and we’re ready to get a win in that environment.”

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