After three games out in sunny Hawaii the Wisconsin women's basketball team is set to return to action at home. The Badgers had a good trip to the Pacific, winning two of three contests, but fell short in the Rainbow Classic Tournament title game.
Now they will welcome a pair of teams from the Big East as they continue their non-conference schedule. First up is in-state rival Marquette who is new to the Big East after being a member of Conference USA a year ago. Marquette is 3-1 on the year and looks to make it two wins in a row against the Badgers after defeating them in Milwaukee 78-64 last season.
Last year's game saw Jolene Anderson tally 26 points and 10 rebounds while shooting 9-of-15 from the field. However, the rest of the team was unable to help her out, shooting just a combined 29 percent from the field en route to the 14-point loss. This year, the challenge will be there once again, as Wisconsin will have its hands full with Marquette's combination of size and quickness.
"Marquette is a great team and they've got a tremendous point guard in Carolyn Kieger, who I've known a long time, and Christina Quaye is a big player inside," UW head coach Lisa Stone said.
The Golden Eagles are returning four starters including Quaye, who is tied for the team lead in scoring (14.0 points per game) and averages nearly a double-double with 9.8 rebounds a game as well. Quaye and classmate Jasmine McCullough (who also averages 14.0 points per game to go along with 6.3 rebounds per contest) give Marquette a tough one-two punch in the post.
Including last year's loss, the Badgers have won just two of the last six meetings with Marquette. To break that trend they will have to overcome a stifling Golden Eagles' defense that is giving up just 52.2 points a game so far on the young season. Currently the Badgers are scoring 76.0 points a game, so whichever team is able to play its style of basketball should emerge victorious.
The Badgers will then take on the Fighting Irish of Notre Dame on Sunday. The Irish (5-0) will be looking to knock off their third Big Ten team after already defeating Michigan and Indiana earlier this season. The Irish were selected to finish third in a strong Big East that currently has four teams in the top 15 of The Associated Press national rankings.
Notre Dame enters the weekend ranked No. 11 in the country and fresh off of a 19-point victory over Iona. This will be the second time in a week Wisconsin will be facing a ranked team after losing to DePaul (another Big East team) in the final of the Rainbow Classic Tournament last Sunday. Though the task ahead of them is difficult, the opportunity to play a highly ranked team is something the Badgers look forward to.
"Playing against a ranked team, it improves our game, as well as the team," sophomore forward Danielle Ward said. "I think it will be a great opportunity for me and my teammates to see what it is to be ranked and what it takes to beat a ranked team. If we can come out with a victory over a ranked team and it will just give us so much confidence to have that feeling that we can beat a ranked team, and just having that confidence that we can be right there with them."
The last meeting between the two took place in South Bend on Notre Dame's home floor two years ago — a game which resulted in a 18-point victory for the Irish. Stone hopes to exact some revenge on these two teams now that Wisconsin has them on their own court.
"We have two very tough opponents at home, teams that we've played on the road in the last two years that we hope that we can have a different result this time," she said.
