The Wisconsin women’s basketball team’s victory over the Michigan Wolverines Sunday afternoon was no surprise. What was surprising were the Badgers who led the team victory.
Jolene Anderson continued her spectacular play by dropping 21 points for the Badgers, three points better than her season average, but her usual supporting cast struggled. Fellow guards Stephanie Rich and Janese Banks posted eight and six points respectively, both below their season averages. Forward Jordan Wilson, the team’s fourth-leading scorer, averaging 8.2 points per game, posted only two points in limited action coming off the bench.
With several of Wisconsin’s top scorers struggling, the Badgers looked to their role players to carry the scoring burden, and they didn’t disappoint. Wisconsin got a combined 37 points from the trio of Ashley Josephson, Ebba Gebisa and Danielle Ward, none of who are among the top five scorers on the team.
“I think it’s tremendous,” Stone said of the unexpected contributions. “We certainly don’t key our offense, our defense or any part of our game on one player.”
One player who enjoyed an unaccustomed level of success during the game was Gebisa. In only her fifth start of the season, and second in a row, the senior forward posted her most productive game of the season, scoring a season-high 18 points.
After earning a start in place of the junior Wilson, Gebisa produced a strong first half, shooting a perfect 3-for-3 from the field while sharing defensive duties on Michigan leading scorers Tabitha Pool and Ta’Shia Walker. But it was Gebisa’s second-half effort that secured the win for Wisconsin.
With under a minute to go in the game, Michigan guard Becky Flippin connected on a 3-point basket to cut the Badger lead to eight. On the ensuing possession, the Wolverines fouled Gebisa with only 45 seconds left in the contest. Gebisa hit the two free throws, regaining a double-digit lead the Wolverines would be unable to overcome. Gebisa posted 12 of her 18 points in the second half, including a perfect 10-for-10 performance from the charity stripe.
“She had a great line, 10-for-10 from the free-throw line,” Stone said. “To come back and shoot 72 percent, in large part due to Ebba Gebisa’s 10-for-10 from the line with 18 points. It’s just truly amazing and a wonderful thing for Ebba. She had a great effort with great second-chance opportunities.”
Josephson also jumped to the aid of her struggling teammates, posting nine points, three boards and three steals in only 16 minutes of playing time. Like Gebisa, the junior guard enjoyed most of her success in the second half.
After picking up no points in the first half, Josephson exploded in the second stanza for nine big points and a pair of steals. Josephson also took over point guard duties in the stead of Rich, who enjoyed a seldom-had break throughout the middle of the second half.
“We got great minutes from Ashley Josephson,” Stone said. “That was great game for Ashley, hopefully it’s a big confidence builder for her. She shot the ball well and had a couple of big steals.”
Wisconsin also enjoyed a strong performance from Ward. In only 10 minutes of action, the freshman forward scored eight points on 4-for-5 shooting, made three steals, recorded a block and committed only one personal foul, a problem that plagued her early in the season.
Ward credits her high-energy style to the personality of Coach Stone.
“Basically, I just take on the coach’s personality,” Ward said. “Coaches say to go out there and get the ball back, and that’s what I try to do.”
Stone admits that while the numbers are nice, the energetic style of play is what she is really looking for in her players.
“A lot of people who read the papers will see the numbers; you look at numbers,” Stone said. “Ebba had 18 points, and we got 13 rebounds from Annie (Nelson); the long and short of it is you don’t have to score a double-double; we need the effort in there.”
