[media-credit name=’AJ MACLEAN/Herald photo’ align=’alignnone’ width=’648′][/media-credit]Looking to end a two-game skid, the Wisconsin Badgers women’s basketball team (10-13, 4-9 Big Ten) will travel to Minneapolis, Minn. to face the No. 14 Minnesota Golden Gophers Sunday afternoon. Wisconsin dropped their first meeting against Minnesota earlier this season 74-49 at the Kohl Center.

A win would give the Badgers their fifth conference victory of the season, surpassing last year’s mark of four. A Badger victory would mark the first regular-season victory against the Gophers since 2001, when Wisconsin defeated Minnesota 86-43 at the Barn in Minneapolis.

Historically, the Badgers have fared poorly in their trips to the Barn. The Badgers own a 9-13 record in Minneapolis, and have yet to defeat the Gophers under second-year head coach Lisa Stone.

The challenge will be especially daunting for the Badgers this year, as they have the misfortune of visiting Minneapolis for the Gophers’ Senior Night for the second-consecutive year. This year, the celebration looks to be especially raucous as Minnesota bids farewell to senior forward Janel McCarville.

“[The Barn’s] got a lot of history, and they do a great job of packing that house and it’s Janel McCarville’s last game at home,” senior guard Stephanie Rich said. “I’m sure they are going to try and sell it out as much as they can for her.”

McCarville dominated Wisconsin in their first matchup of the season, posting 15 points, 17 rebounds and a team-leading six assists. Wisconsin’s post players will look to a bevy of ever-changing defensive sets, a wrinkle added by Stone after their first matchup, to help control McCarville.

“We’re going to try switching up on defense,” junior forward Annie Nelson said. “She’s just a terrific, strong post player and not only dominating inside, but passing out of traps and stuff like that as well.”

However, Nelson was also wary of the amount of attention the team should pay to McCarville, admitting that in their first matchup, the Badgers may have focused too heavily on the Gopher standout.

“I think we did focus on Janel McCarville the first time around and let the guards have free range,” Nelson said. “But I think we did play pretty good defense against them — a good game, but not a great game — and that’s something we’ll have to concentrate on.”

Critical to an improved defensive effort will be the Badgers’ performance against Minnesota’s guards. In the team’s first matchup, guards Shannon Schonrock, April Calhoun, Kelly Roysland and swingmen Shannon Bolden and Jamie Broback combined for a stellar 15-of-29 from the field, including 7-for-16 from behind the 3-point line for 46 points.

“Their guards are very good, and Shannon Schonrock can get hot,” Nelson said. “(But) also they have the potential to get really cold. Against Michigan State, they were 0-for-17 from the 3-point line.”

But while Minnesota’s shooting was impeccable in the first meeting — they shot 60 percent as a team — their ball-handling was not. Wisconsin’s defense harassed Minnesota’s players throughout the game, eventually forcing 24 turnovers, including four each from McCarville, Calhoun and Natasha Williams. Unfortunately for the Badgers, the Gophers’ 24 turnovers translated into only 20 points.

“We do force a lot of turnovers, but we just have to capitalize on those,” Rich said. “We put a lot of pressure on them, and they are a turnover team because they take risks.”

Those risks spill over into the Gopher defense as well. Wisconsin shot an abysmal 27 percent against the Gophers, while their stingy defense forced 14 turnovers and nabbed 34 boards on the defensive end.

Offensively, the Badgers were taken out of rhythm by the aggressive Gopher defense. Stone’s top three scorers — Jolene Anderson, Janese Banks and Rich — combined to shoot at an 8-for-35 clip, including 1-of-8 from behind the arc, for 20 points. The trio combined averages more than 38 points per game.

“They do a great job defensively against us, pressuring out on our guards and on our posts as well,” Rich said. “We just have to a better job of taking care of the ball, and take better shots.”