The Badgers were down 82-81 with 15 seconds left as their freshman point guard brought the ball up the court. She created a shot for herself just before time expired, but it bounced off the front of the rim and UW suffered its fifth loss of the season.

That December day, freshman point guard Ashley Josephson arrived in the minds of many UW women’s basketball fans. Not because she missed the game-winning shot, but because she played with intensity and maturity far beyond her years. Josephson took the loss pretty hard, but after bringing the team back from a 16-point deficit, it was still an impressive performance.

“You would have thought she was a senior point guard who had made the most critical mistake of her life,” head coach Jane Albright said. “As a coach, you really just appreciate someone who takes that much ownership in a program.”

Josephson scored a career-high 17 points against Ball State, but she was visibly shaken at the press conference. Like many freshman, she placed the blame of the difficult loss on herself.

Three days prior to the Ball State game, Josephson added her name to opposing-team scouting reports after going 3-3 from three-point range and scoring 13 points against Washington.

“I think she is a scoring threat,” Albright said. “We didn’t get enough threes out of her, but she certainly leads us in free-throw percentage, so I think her offensive game really developed very quickly.”

In just her second home start, Josephson proved to the Kohl Center crowd that she was going to contribute to the team this year. Her smooth shooting offered an offensive kick that the Badgers needed. She is averaging 8.7 points per game, good for fourth on the team, and her .938 percentage leads the team from the free-throw line.

Josephson struggled through the beginning of the Big Ten season, as it took the Badgers until their fifth game to get a victory in conference play.

“It’s hard to describe the Big Ten on the road,” Albright said. “The tempo of the game is really fast, you have to make quick decisions, you have to lead your team, you have to worry about your game and your team’s game, and that’s a really hard thing to prepare anyone for.”

Josephson had started all but two games for the Badgers at the point guard position until she experienced a back spasm four minutes into the Badgers’ Jan. 16 game against Ohio State. She played minimally in three games before re-injuring herself and missing games against Illinois, Northwestern, Michigan, Michigan State and Ohio State.

In her absence the Badgers have been able to win four games, but their offense has struggled.

“In the last two games we’ve scored the lowest point totals of the year,” Albright said. “Not that Ashley answers all of those problems, but she gives us some confidence.”

Josephson hasn’t practiced since Jan. 29 but has been watching games from the Badgers’ bench. The trainers at UW are working hard to get Josephson back on the court, and although she has been cleared to play on a few game days, her prognosis remains day-to-day.

“She wants to get out there, but she’s also learning and growing from it,” Albright said. “She’s probably handling the injury more like a freshman than she plays like a freshman.”

This season Josephson has been able to handle the pressures of leading a Big Ten team quite well. On a team that averages 22 turnovers per game, Josephson is averaging only 2.5.

“Some games I know she played 37 minutes and a team that’s played with turnovers, she would have 2 of them,” Albright said. “She’s pretty heady.”

Josephson became the Badgers’ starter because she came to Wisconsin a highly conditioned athlete and proved herself as a leader very quickly in practice.

Now it seems Josephson’s mental strength will be the biggest test.

“She’s a blue collar [worker], the harder it is, the more she wants to work,” Albright said. “She would be out there right now if we would let her, but she just can’t do it.”

Sitting on the bench alongside Josephson, coach Albright believes the injury will act as a valuable learning experience for the freshman.

“I’ve just tried to talk with her about just keeping a part of the team and the mental aspect and watching the game and helping our team win even if she’s not out there contributing,” Albright said. “[She needs to concentrate on] studying and taking care of the rest of her business so when she does get back on the court she’ll be ready for things.”