The story of the women's basketball team can be told in the last few seconds of Sunday's contest with Northwestern.
Down just one with 12 seconds to go, the Badgers missed a lay-up but Danielle Ward was able to corral the rebound. Like many times in the season, the top of the mountain was in sight but they just couldn't quite reach it. Ward's put-back missed off the backboard and the Badgers did not get another shot up and ended up losing by two.
"We orchestrated the game perfectly and we had chances," said head coach Lisa Stone. "I feel really bad for Danielle Ward. She had a great game. She didn't lose the game — we just had a chance to win the game on that shot. Not making free throws and shooting poorly for two games in a row now in the second half has been our demise."
Missed opportunities and poor shooting have led to the Badgers' disappointing record thus far. Now sitting in a tie for ninth place with Northwestern at 2-9 in the Big Ten, the Badgers have to look for something to keep hope alive for a team that has had so many tough losses.
"Our record, we're so close," Stone said. "When you start to look at numbers, we're 0-6 in games in less than six points. If you then look at the Indiana game, that was a three-point game with 20 seconds to go that ends up not being six but seven. And then the Iowa game was within a minute and we're in a position to win. It's just taking that little extra effort to finish the game."
Stone has been pleased with the effort of her team, but wants to see more consistency from her players.
"There's been flashes of the defense we've been putting in," Stone said. "The kids are giving great effort, they really are, but we haven't put it all together yet, to be honest. There have been flashes in every single game. There hasn't been a game where I say now that's us."
Being able to finish the game has fallen into the hands of a young crop of players, as five of the top six scorers on the Badgers are currently underclassmen. A lot of them just do not have the experience needed to excel when the game comes down to the wire.
The player the Badgers have relied on throughout the year, when there have been injuries and must-have buckets, has been sophomore guard Jolene Anderson. But in the last four games, last year's Big Ten Freshman of the Year has shot just 32 percent from the field while averaging 21 shots a game.
"Well you certainly can't doubt a kid's effort and her effort has been outstanding and we need her to score, there's no question," Stone said. "From Jolene's standpoint, I think there is a little bit of pressure as you come into games having to perform. They're good shots. That might be where Jolene might have to pass up an open shot for something better or we just continue to shoot the ball with confidence. With her role on our team, a bad shot for her might be worse for someone else, but that's what happens when you're the leading scorer. I'm not saying her shot selection is perfect because it is not. Our entire team needs to be more patient on the offensive end."
The team has definitely struggled and not provided Anderson with much help as the Badgers have not shot above 45 percent for a game since New Year's Day, a span of 10 games.
Stone believes that Wisconsin must continue to lean heavily on Anderson's shoulders and try to use these losses as teaching tools so they can lead to wins in the future.
"[Jolene and I] did talk a little bit — particularly in the first half Sunday, when we had a 12-point lead — about playing with the lead and not playing like we're from behind all the time," Stone said. "Right now, we're licking our wounds from [Sunday] and hopefully get back on track. We need to find ways to win and not [find ways of how] not to win. What's it going to take for us to finish that one possession is what I'm trying to analyze right now."
