Be patient with Stone’s Badgers
by Michael Robinson, Associate Sports Editor
When point guard Stephanie Rich went down with a fractured hand, things went from bad to worse for Lisa Stone and the UW women’s basketball team.
The Badgers had already lost forward Kjersten Bakke for the year with a torn ACL, just as the scrappy sophomore had emerged as a regular in the starting lineup. Bakke’s injury was a tremendous blow, but one the team could work around, especially with Jordan Wilson stepping up and senior captains Emily Ashbaugh and Lello Gebisa determined to finish their collegiate careers on a high note.
Rich’s injury, however, was more than the Badgers could overcome. Playing without the Big Ten assist leader (5.81 per game), Wisconsin’s postseason hopes were dashed by Indiana in the first round of the Big Ten tournament.
Needing to win the Big Ten tournament to prolong its season, Wisconsin’s 2003-04 campaign has reached its disappointing close. However, it is not time to close the book on head coach Lisa Stone. Before you run to the chat rooms and start that “bring back Albright” campaign, take another look at this matchup.
With Rich out of the lineup, the Badgers traveled to Indianapolis with the odds stacked heavily against them. After finishing near the bottom of the Big Ten standings with a 4-12 conference record, Wisconsin had no more than an outside chance of running the table in the Big Ten tournament and earning an automatic bid to the Big Dance.
Against a field that includes juggernauts No. 5 Penn State (23-4, 15-1) and No. 7 Purdue (24-3, 14-2), the Badgers’ title hopes were slim even at full strength. Rich’s season-ending injury tipped the scale even farther, moving the Badgers from a long shot to a long shot without a point guard.
While Wisconsin is loaded in the post, Stone’s squad is very thin on the perimeter. Rich has logged more minutes than anyone on the UW roster (37.8 per game) because the Badgers simply do not have another reliable option at the point.
Freshman Kandace Evans has shown glimpses of promise, but the flashy guard has not shown the consistency to lead the Badgers through the tournament. Evans has delivered a number of jaw-dropping drives to the basket, but has often found herself taking the ball straight into the jaws of a zone.
Leading scorer Ashley Josephson, who holds the 4th-highest three-point shooting percentage in the Big Ten (.420), has emerged as one of the best pure shooters in the conference, but the sniper has not shown that she can run the point consistently. The sophomore has played nearly all of her minutes at shooting guard, moving to point only to give Rich a few short breathers. Besides, if Josephson brings the ball up, who’s going to come off a screen and knock down the three?
So don’t read too much into this loss. There are not many coaches in the NCAA who could have led their team through a conference tournament after losing their starting point guard in the final game of the regular season.
Though her first season at Wisconsin has been disappointing, Stone is exactly what the UW women’s basketball program needs. It may take her a few years, but the Oregon, Wis. native will turn the Badgers around.
Coming into this season, Stone ranked 9th among active Division I coaches with a .761 winning percentage, holding a remarkable 375-118 record. In 19 years of coaching, this season was her first losing campaign.
Stone has won everywhere she has coached, and her miraculous resurrection of the UW-Eau Claire program will forever hold a place in Division III coaching lore. When Stone accepted the head coaching job at UW-Eau Claire, the Blugolds had just one winning season in school history.
A young Stone, just three years out of college, led the program to 12 straight winning seasons and 11 appearances in the Division III NCAA tournament, including four trips to the Elite Eight and an appearance in the 1997 championship game. Stone’s 277-59 (.824) record at Eau Claire remains the all-time strongest mark in the history of the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC).
After engineering a turnaround of that magnitude at Eau Claire, the seven-time coach of the year should have what it takes to turn things around for a Wisconsin program that is just two years removed from its most recent NCAA tournament appearance.
Though she has spent the majority of her career at the Division III level, Stone is no stranger to the Division I NCAA tournament. Just two years ago, Stone led Drake University to the Sweet 16 after a stunning upset win over No. 2 Baylor in the 2002 NCAA tournament. In three years at Drake Stone proved that she can excel at the Division I level, posting a 64-27 (.703) record.
Stone’s resume speaks for itself and her competitive drive became evident as soon as she set foot on campus. Undaunted by the challenge that lies before her, Stone has set goals that extend beyond a return to the NCAA tournament.
“I took my staff to the very top of the Kohl Center one day when nobody was in there,” Stone said. “I sat there and I said ‘one of these days, this seat will be filled.'”
Anyone who has attended a Wisconsin women’s basketball game knows how ridiculous this goal appears, but anyone who has heard Stone discuss it knows that she is the coach to make it a reality. After what she did at Eau Claire, anything is possible. So give Stone a chance. She may surprise you.