The Wisconsin women’s basketball season gets under way this Sunday as the Badgers take on the Wisconsin AAU Select team.

The Badgers start their 2002 exhibition season against a team of the nation’s premier college graduates in a match-up that could set the tone for the rest of this season.

“What [we] want these exhibition games to do is give us a chance to play against someone else and execute against another group of people and at the same time really figure out what we need to work on before we go to Northern Illinois,” said head coach Jane Albright. “Because that game really does count.”

The Badgers will be led by tri-captains Kristi Seeger, Leah Hefte and Emily Ashbaugh. Seeger started 21 games last season at the forward position and will see an increase in her playing time of 18 minutes per game. The extra minutes should increase the senior’s averages of 3.8 points and 3.9 rebounds per game. Last season Seeger scored career highs in every statistical category putting up a season high 15 points and nine rebounds against Minnesota Jan. 20.

Senior guard Leah Hefte was a key reserve for the Badgers last season and represents one of the Badgers leading 3-point threats. As a junior she shot the trifecta at a fitting .333 percent. Her breakthrough game came against Minnesota Feb. 21 in which Hefte scored a career-high 19 points, including 6 three-pointers.

The Badgers will have junior Emily Ashbaugh returning at the center position where last season she averaged a career high 6.7 points and 4.8 rebounds in 23 minutes of play. The 6-foot-5 Washington native put up a career-high 17 points and added 10 rebounds against Iowa and recorded her second double-double with 12 points and career-high 11 rebound showing against Illinois.

“I think all the upperclassman 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.

Those returning Badger players will have the opportunity to play against recent UW graduates Jessie Stornski and Tamara Moore. The AAU roster also includes Wisconsin graduates Karie Cattanach and Dee Dee Pate. This season represents the second year for the Wisconsin AAU team as they play against all four Wisconsin Division I teams.

“I’m definitely looking forward to going up against Jessie and Tamara again,” Ashbaugh said. “It will be just like old times, only hopefully a little bit more skewed in our favor.”

Many of the Badger players will recognize Moore only as a star in the WNBA, because half of the roster did not play for the Badgers last season. There are five freshmen and one transfer that will be playing their first game in the cardinal and white this season.

The most probable of those six players to see significant playing time are junior transfer Lello Gebisa, and freshmen Ashley Josephson. Gebisa will join her sister Ebba on the team and, at 6 foot 7, will be the tallest player in team history. Josephson is a freshman guard who averaged 16 points her senior season. Both players will have something to prove Sunday as they get their first chance to play in front of the UW crowd.

“Everybody is going to be a little bit nervous because it is going to be our first game and our first time really playing together in a game situation,” Josephson said. “I’m really excited and I think everybody is ready for the season to start.”

This season will be Jane Albright’s ninth as the Wisconsin basketball head coach. She has amassed a 154-86 record and has led the Badgers to eight straight winning seasons. This season represents a particular challenge for Albright as she is still in doubt over her starting lineup. The coach however still remains confident over her team’s prospects for the season as they enter their matchup against the AAU team.

“I think when you get to this time of year as a coach you always expect good things because you’re with your team and you’ve kind of identified what it is that you want them to work on and certain teams really embrace that and work hard and kind of have a vision,” Albright said. “We don’t know what the end result will be, but I have very high hopes for this team.”