Coming off an agonizing defeat at the hands of Iowa at home Thursday night, the UW women’s basketball team (8-14, 2-10) takes to the road, which has been more than unkind this season, to face league-leading Penn State (19-4, 11-1).
After losing four-straight games all by double digits, the Badgers appeared they had finally put two halves of basketball together and would pull out of their early-February slump.
Iowa, though, had something else in mind.
Trailing by six points with only 30 seconds left, Iowa forced back-to-back turnovers and nailed two 3-pointers to force overtime. In the overtime, Iowa seemed to have both the momentum and the fresher legs, as they pulled away for an 87-82 win while the Badgers were wondering what had gone wrong.
No.7-ranked Penn State will not shed any tears for the Badgers, as they are trying to keep pace with Purdue and win their second-straight Big Ten title. If Penn State can get by the Badgers and some tricky opponents on the road, they could be in for a final Sunday showdown with Purdue on their home court. That would not only decide the conference champion, but also the No. 1 seed in the Big Ten tournament.
Penn State is also optimistic about grabbing a No. 1 seed when the NCAA tournament rolls around, but they must keep winning for that to remain a possibility. The Badgers, currently in 10th place in the Big Ten, are looking to rack up some wins any way they can and will not be intimidated by the nationally ranked Lady Lions; a team they only lost to by one point, 60-59, back in mid-January at the Kohl Center.
The Lady Lions had won 11 games in a row before being blown out at Minnesota 74-56 for their first league loss. Penn State rebounded to hammer Michigan 73-44 at home Sunday. Penn State, though, has given the term home-court advantage a new meaning. Since the opening of the Bryce Jordan Center in the 1995-1996 season, the Lady Lions have posted a 94-18 record in its confines and have only lost once at home over the past two seasons.
Penn State has never lost at home to Wisconsin, as it holds a perfect 10-0 record against the Badgers in Bryce Jordan Center. They also lead the Badgers 17-4 in the all-time series.
“We have nothing to lose. We’re going to go to Penn State and give it our all,” UW sophomore forward Jordan Wilson said. “We’re just going to go out there and work our butts off.”
Penn State’s offense is centered around first-team all-American and former Big Ten player of the year Kelly Mazzante. Mazzante broke both the Big Ten men’s and women’s scoring records earlier this month and has shown no signs of inconsistency yet this season. The Wade Trophy candidate continues to lead the Big Ten in scoring with 21.3 points per game.
Even when Mazzante misses a shot or is having what she may deem a bad game, she is not afraid to fire up another 10 shots. Her 68 made 3-pointers currently lead the Big Ten. Even when the clock is stopped, Mazzante has found ways to hurt opponents. She shoots 83 percent from the line, which ranks No. 5 in the conference.
While Mazzante may be the go-to player for Penn State in tough situations, Wisconsin has to be well aware of the other Lady Lions who are in the game.
Junior guard Tanisha Wright averages 14.7 points per game and has the ability to go off on teams when they collapse on Mazzante. Junior point guard Jess Strom has been steady in dishing out 5.9 assists per game, which ranks second in the conference behind Wisconsin’s Stephanie Rich. She also puts up 10.2 points per game.
Other players have also proven they can put up big numbers on any given night.
PSU senior forward Jessica Brungo contributes 9.7 points per contest, and against the Badgers in January she scored 19 points when Mazzante was having an off night.
Penn State is well stacked in the post with 6-foot-6 freshman center Reicina Russell. She leads the conference with 2.7 blocks per game, and provides a stiff test for Wisconsin’s senior post players Emily Ashbaugh and Lello Gebisa. In the two teams’ last meeting, Russell played only 16 minutes due to foul trouble.
If Wisconsin is to upset Penn State on their home floor, they must not only limit Mazzante’s points, but also her touches. Wisconsin forward Ebba Gebisa limited Mazzante to just 15 points in their last meeting and made her work for everything, as she shot a dismal 4-of-19 from the floor.
Gebisa and the Badgers have proven themselves to be a team unsafe to overlook this season.
“We’ve played with every team, whether it was for five minutes or 39-and-a-half,” Wilson said. “I think we’ve proven we can play with them and can beat any team on any given night.
