Last Thursday's game against the Indiana Hoosiers was one that UW women's basketball coach Lisa Stone would prefer not to have etched in her memory.
"The Indiana game, to me, is a blip on the screen," Stone said. "It's one I want to forget about. There's not even a lot of teaching points because we were poor everywhere. It was the worst we've played all year."
In that game at Assembly Hall, Stone's Badgers (16-8, 5-6 Big Ten) got off to a very slow start, allowing Indiana (15-9, 4-7 Big Ten) to score the game's first 19 points and lead by as many as 37.
"I think our transition defense was really lacking," forward Mariah Dunham said. "Offensively, we didn't rebound the ball. It seemed like it went so quickly."
Luckily for Stone and her team, Wisconsin did not have to wait long to get another chance at IU as the Hoosiers visit the Kohl Center tonight. The Badgers will look to build on their 11-2 home record and rebound from a two-game losing streak, in which they suffered road losses to Indiana and Penn State.
The keys for Wisconsin will be to limit turnovers and toughen up their defense, two things they failed to do last week, as 20 Badger turnovers led to easy points for Indiana.
"Their best offense last time was our worst defense," Stone said. "They stole the ball at the top, and we had no defense back. We have to take better care of the basketball and find better shots."
The Badger-killers last time out were monster center Sarah McKay and sharp shooting guard Nikki Smith. McKay posted a double-double, with 18 points and 11 rebounds, and Smith led the Hoosiers in scoring with 22 points while shooting 4-7 from beyond the arc.
"Sarah McKay is 6-foot-7, and there's nothing we can do about that," Stone said. "We can push the ball off more and not allow as much offense inside. Nikki Smith had a really good shooting night."
Dunham and sophomore center Caitlin Gibson will again be matched up with McKay down low.
"They're such a jam in the middle," Gibson said. "McKay's a big target. They can lob it up to her. We just need to disrupt their offense and just deny them the ball as much as we can."
"With Sarah McKay, we definitely have to keep her off the block," Dunham added. "She has great hands, she can get down the floor, and she can shoot the outside shot."
UW point guard Rae Lin D'Alie will most likely guard IU's Jamie Braun, who put up 14 points in the game a week ago.
"We've just got to bring it on defense," D'Alie said. "That's something that we lacked right out of the gate at Indiana. Our offense will come from that. I really think just focusing on defense and the way we know we can (play) and everything will be just fine."
Braun, a freshman from Marshfield, will be playing her first collegiate game in her home state.
"I think she'll be starting against us," Stone said. "She'll be excited to come back home."
Although not much will change in the Badgers' game plan, Stone is confident that the result will be different.
"Our match-ups are not a whole lot different than last time," Stone said. "Our performance will be better. … We've got to have a much better outing than we did in Bloomington, and we will. I believe our kids are very focused."
If Stone and her team want to make their case for postseason play, they will need to take care of the rest of their home games, starting with Indiana. And while she's happy with her team's progress this season, Stone knows there is always room to improve, even as the season winds down.
"I told them, you're never as good as you think you are, and you're never as bad as you think you are," Stone said. "We're somewhere in between. Right now, we're growing. … We're going to take that momentum and use that as one stepping-stone closer to what our goals are. The first step to getting to where we want to be is Thursday."