Anderson continues to impress, set records

As she has done all year, Wisconsin guard Jolene Anderson put the team on her back and carried them to yet another victory behind her game-high 30 points. The Big Ten scoring champion's strong performances have come often enough that hardly anything she does surprises her coach or teammates anymore.

"Some of the shots that go in, I have no idea how they go in," UW head coach Lisa Stone said. "Nothing really surprises me."

"One shot she took last year just blew me away," Wisconsin forward Danielle Ward said. "This year it's like, 'OK, there's another one.' I don't think there [are] really any big surprises."

Teammate Janese Banks joked that she plans to raise her children just as Anderson was raised — on a farm, shooting baskets in her family's barn — in hopes that they grow up to be like her.

"I'm going to build a barn so they can take shots like Jolene," Banks said. "Anything she shoots, it doesn't surprise me. … She's a great athlete, and that's what athletes do. They make plays."

Anderson, who poured in 22 of her points in the second half, tied her career high for scoring. She previously set the high in the second round of the WNIT last week against Arkansas State and continued to increase her single-season team scoring record. She now has 667 points on the season, which broke the old mark of 601 set by Barb Franke. Sunday's game also marked Anderson's sixth consecutive 20-plus point game. Unfortunately for the Virginia Cavaliers, they were the latest victim of Anderson's hot shooting.

"We were having a little bit of trouble with Anderson," Virginia head coach Debbie Ryan said. "We were switching out onto her, and I think we were a little bit fatigued. We just weren't doing a good job on her. … She was the difference today."

Along with Anderson's three-pointer to beat the shot clock with just over two minutes left, another pivotal point in the game came with 3:19 remaining.

Trailing by two points, Badger point guard Rae Lin D'Alie's shot was blocked by Virginia's Monica Wright. Cavaliers guard Sharnee Zoll collected the rebound and took the ball up the court. Wisconsin guard Janese Banks was there to meet her at half-court and drew the charge. After disagreeing with officials on the call, Cavaliers' assistant coach Jeff House was hit with a technical foul.

"It was the turning point in the game," Ryan said. "It was a very untimely and uncharacteristic technical. If anybody gets a technical on our team, it's me. It was just very untimely."

Wisconsin's Anderson made both of the free throws that resulted from the technical to tie the game at 70. The Badgers maintained possession of the ball, and the ensuing runner by D'Alie gave UW their first lead of the game.

"That was big for (D'Alie), since she had just gotten her shot blocked on her layup," Banks said. "For her, especially as a freshman, to have that confidence to come back and even take that shot — that's a big shot."

Wisconsin did not make any trips to the free-throw line in the first half, but shot 29 after halftime, converting on 22 of them. The Cavaliers, on the other hand, made it to the line just 16 times, converting on just nine of those attempts.

"We did a pretty good job of attacking the basket in the second half," Stone said. "At halftime, I put on the board 'zero free throws,' and the team responded very well. … We picked the times to run, and when we did, we generally drew a foul. When it was just a set offense, we tried to attack the basket off of ball screens and try to get the ball inside."

Anderson was perfect from the line, making all eight of her shots, including four with under a minute remaining in the game. Banks was also solid, converting on seven of eight. Mariah Dunham and D'Alie also converted on pivotal foul shots with under a minute to play.

"Those are tough free throws," Stone said. "I think the fact that we made free throws down the stretch — those are some key (shots)."