After a record-setting season for the Wisconsin women's basketball team, in which they set team records for most wins in a season and most home wins, the Badgers find themselves in the Final Four of the WNIT championship. Tonight, Wisconsin (22-12) will take on the Western Kentucky Lady Toppers (23-8) in hopes of advancing to the tournament's championship game.

"To be playing this late in March is an awesome feeling," UW guard Janese Banks said. "I can't even sum it up into words — just the feeling that our hard work has paid off."

The Badgers are coming off of an emotional come-from-behind win Sunday against Virginia, in which the trailed by as many as 14 points. Wisconsin head coach Lisa Stone hopes to take the emotion and momentum from that game into tonight.

"I really believe that the teams we've played this far have put us in a good position to prepare for this team," Stone said. "That comeback against Virginia was huge. It was by far the biggest win since I've been here, and we want to carry that over."

En route to their Final Four appearance, Western Kentucky took down Big Ten foe Minnesota in a convincing fashion, beating the Gophers 73-57 in the second round of the tournament. They then went on to narrowly defeat Mississippi State by three. On Sunday, the Lady Toppers took down Hofstra, 72-54. All three games were home games for WKU.

"It shows that they're all business," Wisconsin guard Jolene Anderson said. "They're going to come here ready to play."

"This team is good," Stone said. "They've beat some really good teams this year."

Western Kentucky is led by 6-foot-3 junior center Crystal Kelly, who averages nearly a double-double, scoring 23.9 points and grabbing 9.5 rebounds per game. Just like Anderson, Kelly broke the team's single-season scoring record earlier in the WNIT.

Defensively, Stone will use several of her post players on Kelly, rotating Danielle Ward, Caitlin Gibson, Brittany Heins and Mariah Dunham on her.

"In this game, Danielle will start out on Kelly," Stone said. "We'll bring in Caitlin, too. I think Caitlin can match up with her as well. This is a post player that serves well with both of our big post players, Caitlin and Danielle."

With a dominant post presence, it will be important for the Badgers' post players to stay out of foul trouble, which will be difficult against Kelly.

"We're just going to be aggressive and physical with her," Gibson said. "She attacks the basket, and she's really good at making contact and getting fouls out of her defenders. That's one thing that we really need to be conscious of with her."

Forward/guard Dominique Duck is the only other Lady Topper to average double-digit points, notching 11.9 per game. Banks, the 5-foot-10 junior, will draw the defensive assignment on the 5-foot-11 Duck.

"She's a great guard, very athletic, likes to attack the basket and can make plays," Banks said. "She puts a lot of pressure on the defense when she attacks like that. We've got to be solid and know that she can shoot the three and take it to the basket."

"Janese is one of our best perimeter defenders," Stone said. "She's going to have to be a little more physical than she has been in the past with the quicker penetrating guards. … Duck is the real deal, and we've got to be aware of her play as a driver."

Aside from Minnesota, the two teams also had Arkansas State as a common opponent. Western Kentucky split the season series with Arkansas State, losing in the Sun Belt Conference tournament. The Badgers, on the other hand, had no trouble with the Indians, beating them by more than 30 points in the WNIT's second round.

"It really doesn't matter where you're from or who you play against," Banks said. "It's if you come to play that night. They may be from the Sun Belt, and we're from the Big Ten, but it really doesn't matter."

As has been the case throughout the tournament, Badger fans will give the team an added home-court advantage. Anderson and her teammates will look to feed off the crowd's energy and move into the championship game with yet another victory.

"We've got to go out and do what we do best," Anderson said. "The fans are going to be behind us whether we're down 14 or up 14, so we've just got to go in there and show that we can win the basketball game."

Back when the team's season began in November, the players and coaches all knew that a run deep into the postseason would not come without a lot of hard work during the year.

"I knew that it wasn't going to come easy, and it hasn't come easy," Banks said. "We've endured a lot of ups and downs this season, and I think this is a great motivation for next season."

"It's certainly a huge goal of mine every year to be playing at this time of year," Stone said. "The question loomed at the beginning of the year with so many new players, but we've defied a lot of obstacles, we've overcome all types of adversity, and we are together as a team and playing well."