[media-credit name=’AJ MACLEAN/Herald Photo’ align=’alignnone’ width=’648′][/media-credit]Looking to avenge a 67-58 loss at the Kohl Center earlier this season, the Wisconsin Badgers women’s basketball team (10-12, 4-8 Big Ten) heads to College Park, Pa., for a Thursday night matchup with Big Ten rival and No. 25-ranked Penn State (16-8, 11-2).

The Nittany Lions took the last matchup between the two teams on the hot-shooting and tough defense of senior point guard Jess Strom. Strom put up 16 points against Wisconsin while dishing out six assists and making four steals.

“With Jess Strom, you can only hope to contain her,” UW senior point guard Stephanie Rich said. “She’s just so quick once she gets the outlet pass and does a great job of running that team.”

Strom’s performance against the Badgers was far from a fluke. The senior floor general is currently 10th in the Big Ten in scoring, averaging 15.3 points per game. Strom also ranks third in the conference in assists, dishing out 4.8 per game.

However, the Badgers will have more than just Strom to concern them in the Nittany Lion backcourt. Penn State also possesses the Big Ten’s leading scorer in Tanisha Wright.

“Tanisha Wright, she’s an All-American,” Rich said. “She can rebound and pass and definitely shoot, and she’s just more off the dribble type of player.”

The Badgers held Wright in check in their first matchup, limiting her to only 13 points on 5-of-13 shooting, a far cry from her lofty 19.5 points per game average. Yet Wisconsin head coach Lisa Stone knows the combination of Strom and Wright is vital to Penn State’s success.

“Those two, Strom and Wright, it’s their senior year; they’re making their push,” Stone said. “They want a Big Ten championship. They play very well at home. The task is tall in front of us, yet it’s one that we certainly are not afraid of.”

The tempo of the two teams’ first matchup was definitely in Penn State’s favor. With the Nittany Lions controlling the pace of the game, Wisconsin shot a paltry 29.9 percent from the field.

“We just need to settle down on offense and go with the flow of the offense,” junior forward Annie Nelson said. “The last game, it really wasn’t our offensive flow, it wasn’t our game that we brought. So I think that is something we’re going to concentrate more on at Penn State because we did play very well against them the first time around. If we can just take the shots within the flow of the offense, I think we’ll come out ahead.”

Penn State’s guard-based offense will also present a change of pace for Wisconsin’s ladies. After several games against teams featuring dominant post players, including Michigan State and Iowa, Penn State offers a less daunting inside challenge for an undersized Wisconsin squad.

“They don’t have the size that the Davenports and the Janel McCarvilles do, but I think definitely we can get out and run on them and put them on their heels right away. I think that’s key to the game,” Nelson said.

Defensively, the Badgers will try to turn the tables on the Nittany Lions. Since their first meeting with Penn State, Wisconsin has added several new defensive wrinkles coming out of timeouts, including increased use of zone and trapping defensive sets.

“We’ve been switching our defenses as much as we can,” Rich said. “It just keeps us on our toes, and them on their toes and the post players did a terrific job on Sunday of doubling down on Michigan State’s post players, and we were able to get a few steals. We just want to switch it up so they’re not sure what’s going to happen.”

Despite being heavy favorites, and owning a perfect 10-0 record against Wisconsin at the Bryce-Jordan Arena, Rich is sure the Nittany Lions will not be looking past the Badgers.

“We’ve had some good games against them. We gave them a little run last time,” Rich said. “But they aren’t going to be like, ‘Oh, Wisconsin is coming to town.’ They’re not like that and they really respect us and know what we can bring every day.”