[media-credit name=’MATTHEW KUTZ/Herald photo’ align=’alignright’ width=’336′][/media-credit]For most coaches, early season exhibitions have relatively little meaning, but that is not the case with women's basketball head coach Lisa Stone, who will be reliving an old conference rivalry this Sunday when the Badgers host the Pioneers of UW-Platteville.

One of the first stops in Stone's coaching career began at UW-Eau Claire, a fellow Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference member with UW-Platteville. There, Stone guided the Blugolds to an astonishing 277 and 59 record over 12 years, an .824 winning percentage.

he Division I all-time mark is an .839 set by Pat Summit of Tennessee — not bad company.

For Stone, scheduling these games is a way for smaller schools like Platteville to not only get the experience of playing a Division I team but also to give back to their conference.

"Having been a part of that, I am an advocate of their conference," Stone said. "It benefits the WIAC schools. It is a great venue to spectate, not only in Division III, but in Division I. The men are doing it, the women are doing it and I only think it's going to grow in popularity."

Last Saturday the men's team took on a different WIAC foe in UW-River Falls and will host a Division III opponent next Monday when they face Lawrence.

Whether the Badgers are playing Marquette or UW-Parkside, Stone looks forward to these match-ups as a way for all Wisconsin teams to showcase their best.

"To see some of the state's best athletes, I think it's a great showcase," Stone said.

The state of Wisconsin will definitely be well represented by both teams as a total of 25 of the 31 players on both teams hail from Wisconsin.

UW-Platteville comes in after a year that saw it go .500 with a 13-13 record, but it has a very experienced returning group that will not be intimidated by the environment in Madison.

"They have five seniors that are trying to make this a special year and what a way to start — to have an experience to play against Wisconsin in the Kohl Center," Stone said.

Also returning are six of their seven leading scorers from a year ago, including all-conference honorable mention forward Holly Kaiser, who paced the Pioneers with 13.7 points per game last season.

However, the Pioneers will have to deal with a Badger team that has four seniors of their own. Three of those seniors make a living down low on the block, but in the new "swing" style offense Stone has implemented, all the post players have seen increased opportunities to make plays beyond the free throw line.

"[The post players] have tremendous roles," Stone said. "Within this offense they are going to step out. We need productivity inside and the five post players we have, have great blue collar work ethics and they are relentless in wanting to get better and with that good things will come."

This Wisconsin team has had an excellent off-season and four weeks of practice thus far. According to Stone, the extra hours in the gym and time watching film have really paid off.

"This is the first year that I have felt that our team is as ready as they are," Stone said. "In my mind we are ahead of any team I have had since I have been at Wisconsin."

As for the aforementioned rivalry between Stone and UW-Platteville, it has been more of a one-sided affair as Stone has an all-time record against Platteville of 23-2. She looks to continue that dominance at 1:30 p.m. this Sunday at the Kohl Center.