[media-credit name=’JEFF SCHORFHEIDE/Herald photo’ align=’alignright’ width=’336′][/media-credit]The University of Wisconsin women's basketball team is just one victory away from being crowned the WNIT champions.

After defeating the Western Kentucky Hilltoppers 79-72 Wednesday night, the Badgers advanced to the tournament's championship game, which will be played Saturday.

"I'm so proud of this young group," UW head coach Lisa Stone said. "They have continued to grow up every single game, every single day."

For Western Kentucky, it was a disappointing end to the 2006-07 season.

"It's obviously not the way we wanted our season to end," Western Kentucky head coach Mary Taylor Cowles said. "Wisconsin is a very good basketball team, and we knew that they had some really, really good fans coming in here tonight."

The Badgers (23-12) struggled offensively in the first half, despite shooting 45 percent from the field. Stone's squad found itself unable to score at times and were careless with the ball, committing 10 first-half turnovers.

After a jumper by junior guard Jolene Anderson gave Wisconsin an 8-4 lead, Western Kentucky (23-9) went on to score six straight points. A pair of free throws by Anderson finally broke the scoring drought after the Badgers went without a point for nearly seven minutes.

Fellow junior guard Janese Banks carried Wisconsin in the first half when Anderson hit a cold streak by shooting just 2-of-8. Banks finished the half with 14 points and five rebounds.

"They're the one-two punch, both offensively and defensively," Stone said of Anderson and Banks. "Decision-making by Janese and Jolene, and Danielle (Ward) — those are our juniors, and they're making decisions to ensure our victories."

Wisconsin would eventually build a six-point lead, but Western Kentucky point guard Tifany Zaragoza hit a 3-pointer with just seconds remaining before halftime to cut the deficit in half for the Toppers.

Much of the second half was back and forth, with neither team able to go ahead by more than seven points. The lead changed hands twice before Wisconsin finally grabbed control of the game. The Badgers were able to answer every attack the Hilltoppers threw at them and never trailed after the 12:35 mark in the second half.

Part of UW's ability to maintain the lead was free-throw shooting. Wisconsin shot a perfect 20-of-20 from the charity stripe, which tied a school record. Banks converted on all eight of her free throws and Anderson made her six attempts. Ward was 4-for-4 at the line and Caitlin Gibson made her two shots as well.

"Free throws were huge for us once again," Stone said. "We got the ball in the right hands at the end of the game.

"If you saw practice yesterday, you would've wondered if we could shoot 20-for-20, but these kids have confidence," Stone continued. "You know that the free-throw line is going to be a determining factor in the outcome of the game, and we did a tremendous job there."

Anderson finished the game with 26 points to lead the team. Banks tallied 23 as well as eight rebounds, five of which were on offense.

"Janese Banks was terrific on the offensive boards in the first half," Stone said. "She really attacked the basket."

Ward finished with 12 points and nine boards, just missing a double-double. Dunham also reached double digits with 10 points.

"Mariah Dunham was big for us," Stone said. "She took good care of the basketball, got on the boards for us. … Defensively, I thought (Danielle) did a very nice job for us on Crystal Kelly."

WKU forward Kelly, the nation's second-leading scorer, ended up with a game-high 28 points. Hilltoppers sophomore guard Brianne Brown also had a hot hand on the night, notching 15 points on 5-of-5 shooting, but fouled out with nearly seven minutes to play in the game. Forward Dominique Duck added 10 points for the Toppers.

"I give Western Kentucky a ton of credit," Stone said. "That's a very good basketball team and Crystal Kelly is one of the best post players we've faced in this entire year. … It was a nail-biter the whole way."

The championship game will see the Badgers take on the Wyoming Cowboys, who defeated Kansas State 89-79 in triple-overtime in their semifinal game. The championship will be the first game in the tournament that Wisconsin has not played on their home court of the Kohl Center.

"We love it here at the Kohl Center," Stone said. "Granted, we'd like to be here (for the championship), but we have to go on the road, and we accept that challenge."

Despite leaving the comforts of home, Stone's young team feels confident and poised heading into Saturday's contest. And although the Badgers have made a run in the tournament, they realize their mission is not quite complete.

"(It's) not accomplished yet until we win the next game," Banks said. "You can see that we're building on it, and I think that this team is playing together at the right time. We're gelling, we're having fun, and we're feeding off of each other."