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With the Badgers playing well in seemingly every aspect of
their game, the University of Wisconsin's women's basketball team beat Indiana-Purdue
Fort Wayne Sunday, 85-69.

Seniors Jolene Anderson and Janese Banks scored 26 and 19
points, respectively, but freshman forward Tara Steinbauer proved to be the
team's catalyst, scoring a career-high 16 points and grabbing six rebounds in
the victory.

In her first start as a Badger, Steinbauer came out strong,
scoring the teams first seven points on her way to 10 first-half points.

"We really just wanted to have some energy, and she's got a
personality with energy to start with," Wisconsin head coach Lisa Stone said.
"The fact is that she catches the ball and she finishes. It's pretty simple."

With two of its tallest players out due to injuries, IPFW
was challenged in the key on seemingly every possession, and it showed, as the
Badgers outscored IPFW 40-14 on points in the paint.

"When you look at the size that Wisconsin has and the size
that we don't have, we wanted to try to go in," IPFW head coach Chris Paul
said. "We just couldn't, because they kept bringing big body after big body
after big body off the bench and we just didn't have the ability to score
inside."

As a result, the Mastadons were forced to utilize their
outside shooters, and wound up firing off a Kohl Center record 37 3-point
attempts. This strategy yielded some success for IPFW, which trailed 44-36 at
the half, but Wisconsin's post presence was too much for the small IPFW lineup.

In the first half, IPFW shot seven for 19 from beyond the
three-point arch, keeping them in the game, but Wisconsin and its tough defense
held the Mastadons to 25 percent in the second half.

"I liked the way we started the second half. We came out and
hit a shot right away and that helps us," Stone said. "We made some adjustments.
… Overall, I'm real proud of our team in coming back home."

The game began with back-and-forth scoring, each team utilizing
its strengths to bring the game to 17-15 with 12:51 left in the first half.

The Mastadons were led by star guard Johnna Carlisle-Lewis,
who scored 17 points in the first half, making three 3-pointers.

"We talked a lot about [Johnna] Lewis-Carlisle," Stone said.
"That's a special player right there. The girl is 5'5'' and has a tremendous
hesitation [move], can shoot the three and get to the basket."

But Lewis-Carlisle was not enough to contain an energized
Wisconsin team out of the half. With a sense of urgency, and with its starters
back on the floor, Wisconsin went on a 23-5 run to extend their lead to 67-41
with 12:59 left in the game.

Jolene Anderson was the star of the second half, scoring 16
points to help the Badgers pull away. Her stat line was very impressive, with
eight rebounds and six assists to go along with her point total.

With the Badgers leading by 26, Stone took out the
starters and let the bench get playing time.