The Wisconsin women’s basketball team opened its regular season in convincing fashion, pummeling the Jaguars of IUPUI 82-49 Friday at the Kohl Center. The Badgers, who were never able to find consistency at home last season, took it to the Jaguars from the opening tip.
“Everyone was moving without the ball so well and hitting the open gaps,” junior forward Jordan Wilson said. “I think we were all the same page tonight.”
Freshman guard Jolene Anderson got the Badgers on the board first off a steal and feed from point guard Stephanie Rich. Anderson then went coast-to-coast for the layup after a steal of her own and freshman center Danielle Ward added a basket off an inbounds pass with 12:32 to play in the first half to cap a 19-4 Badger run to start the game.
Jaguar freshman Karima Davies nailed two jumpers and added a pair of free throws in less than a two-minute span, fueling an 8-0 run for IUPUI that pulled the Jaguars within seven points at 19-12.
From that point on it was all Wisconsin as the Badgers scored their next seven points from the free-throw line. UW then began to crash the offensive glass, and the Badgers extended their lead to 20 on a three from Anderson at the top of the key.
Davies, who had squelched the Badgers’ early run, stalled the UW charge once again with a layup and a free throw at the 3:44 mark in the first half. But Davies’ points would be the last of the half for IUPUI, as the Badgers closed out the half with a 28-5 run and entered the locker room with a 47-17 halftime lead.
The Badgers’ full-court pressure set the tone defensively as the Jaguars committed 17 turnovers in the first half, which led to 21 Wisconsin points off turnovers.
“Defense sparks offense and that was huge,” Stone said.
The Badgers picked up right where they left off in the second half and built their largest lead of the game, 39 points at 76-37 after freshman guard Janese Banks connected on an easy lay-in off a pass from guard Ashley Josephson. From there, it was just a matter of time before the Badgers collected their first win in a season-opener in the past three years.
“Defensively I thought we turned it up a little bit, but we turned it down a little bit in the second half,” Stone said. “We want to finish the game a little stronger. But it’s a big win for us, one we’ll remember because it made a statement.”
As would be expected the big lead allowed Stone to play every player on the roster. The Badgers didn’t lose any ground when their starters went out as all 11 players scored and earned at least 10 minutes each. Anderson, who averaged a double-double in points and rebounds in the exhibition play, paced the Badgers with 20 points and 11 boards. Forward Jordan Wilson added 14 points and was just one rebound short of a double-double.
Perhaps the biggest story of the night was the play of freshman guard Janese Banks. Banks, who missed the first two exhibition games and several practices due to a left knee injury, started in place of last year’s leading scorer Ashley Josephson. In her first collegiate game, Banks scored 15 points and added seven rebounds while seeing time at the point and off-guard positions. Banks was relentless on the offensive glass, pulling down six of her rebounds inside.
Banks missed all five of her attempts in the first half, before finding her rhythm in the second stanza.
Junior forward Annie Nelson also had a career night, recorded career-highs in minutes (19), points (4) and rebounds (9).
IUPUI was led by Davies with 13 points and 12 rebounds. Wisconsin out-rebounded the smaller, inexperienced IUPUI squad 53-41 and forced them into 25 turnovers for the game, while only committing 10. The Badgers recorded 14 steals off Jaguars turnovers, five of them coming from Rich.
The game left Coach Stone excited about the prospects of her deep bench, as the play of Banks and Nelson opens the possibility of a large rotation of players in the upcoming season.
“I’m inspired by what’s going to come,” Stone said. “The more people we can get playing, where we don’t have a continuity issue, it’s going to be fun.”
