With Friday's loss to Purdue in the second round of the Big Ten Tournament, the Wisconsin women's basketball team remains uncertain as to what the rest of the season holds. At this point, it is not so much a question of if the Badgers will play in the postseason, as which tournament they will be playing in: the NCAA or WNIT.

"I think we looked like an NCAA team today," UW head coach Lisa Stone said after the game Friday. "I don't know if anybody in the room wants to disagree with me, but I thought we looked like one today. We played hard, we did a lot of great, great things out there. I just hope they take a look at us."

While the Badgers finished in a three-way tie with Minnesota and Penn State for fifth in the conference, all with a 7-9 record in the Big Ten, they were given the seventh seed in the Big Ten tournament. Wisconsin ended with 19 wins overall, which is three more than the Gophers and four more than the Lady Lions. Although a win against the No. 15 Boilermakers would have strengthened their chances for a spot in the NCAA tournament, Stone feels that the level at which her team has been playing should not be overlooked.

"The way we played, I hope that somebody takes notice, because we competed at a very, very high level," Stone said. "I couldn't be more proud of our players. They gave it everything they had and left themselves on the court. I feel bad for them because this is a win that I thought they deserved."

In the past two seasons, only five Big Ten teams were selected to the NCAA tourney each year, with two more teams playing in the WNIT. In 2002-04, however, six teams earned NCAA berths. If that is the case this year, the Badgers could have a shot. Locks for the top four spots are Ohio State, Purdue, Michigan State and Illinois. Penn State would likely get the nod as the fifth team after beating No. 4-seeded Illinois in the second round of the Big Ten tournament, leaving Wisconsin and Minnesota to fill a potential sixth spot.

A trip to the NCAA tournament would be the first for the Badgers since 2002, when they lost by three to Arizona State in the first round. They have not been to the WNIT since 2000, when they won the championship, defeating Florida in the finals.

Both the NCAA and WNIT tournament selections will be announced March 12, which means the Badgers will have to wait a week to find out their postseason fate. The WNIT begins on March 14, and the first round of the NCAA Tournament starts March 17.

"We're going to take the week off, and we're going to practice next week, and we're excited about playing postseason, and my hope is at the highest level," Stone said. "But these young players, the experience that they gained (Friday) playing against one of the best teams in the country in overtime with a lot of freshmen on the floor, it's a great lead into what's to come in the future for us."

"We're just going to battle back and practice next week," guard Jolene Anderson added. "We'll just go at it. We can't stop now. Our season is not over with. We've just got to continue and go for what we want to go for."

Regardless of which tournament Wisconsin ends up in, there is no doubt that the young team with seven freshmen and no seniors has far exceeded everybody's expectations for this season.

"We were chosen low in the Big Ten, so to even be talking the fourth or fifth seed, … it's a great breakthrough for our program," Stone said. "And this entire group is back next year so we're elated by that — the fact that we've had [19 wins] no one can take that away from us."