Following Sunday’s 17-point fiasco to Kevin McGuff and the Ohio State Buckeyes, Marisa Moseley’s Wisconsin squad (7-19, 4-12 Big Ten) tips off against the Nebraska Cornhuskers (20-7, 9-7 Big Ten) for the second time this season Feb. 23.
The two last met Jan. 9, a game in which Nebraska, backed by contributions from eleven different student-athletes, hammered the Badgers 77-44. Fresh off back-to-back Big Ten losses, UW aims to force a few extra giveaways and frustrate Nebraska sharpshooters Wednesday evening.
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Orchestrated by Amy Williams, a two-time Summit League Coach of the Year and 2018 Naismith National Coach of the Year semifinalist, the Cornhuskers manage 78.7 points, shoot 44.7% from the field and chalk up 17.6 assists per outing. Nebraska also ranks 15th out of 348 qualified programs in Division I competition with 43.1 boards per bout, so Moseley may elect to utilize Sara Stapleton, Halle Douglass and Brooke Schramek down low to deter their Big Ten foe from seizing second chance opportunities.
UW accounts for 56.9 points per contest off 39.1% from the field and only 32.1% from outside — a definite decrease in both scoring output and field-goal efficiency from their clash last month. The Badgers force 6.8 steals, muster 11.7 tallies off turnovers and pull down 29.5 misses off the glass, the fourth-worst rebounding average in the country.
If Katie Nelson and Julie Pospíšilová can pressure opposing ball handlers and fight over screens, the Badgers could showcase why they belong in the conversation to be one of the most promising Big Ten squads in the nation.
Following an 11-point, eight-rebound performance against Ohio State on Sunday, junior Pospíšilová notches 13.8 tallies, snatches 4.1 boards and distributes three assists in 36.3 minutes per appearance. Point guard Nelson, who sits atop the D-I leaderboard in total minutes played (991), leads UW with 91 dimes and 43 thefts. Her teammate, Schramek, earns eight points and 4.1 rebounds a night.
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Freshman Alexis Markowski, the 2021 Nebraska Gatorade Player of the Year and six-time Big-Ten Freshman of the Week, racks up 13 points and 7.7 rebounds in only 20.1 minutes each time out. If the 6-foot-3-inch forward touched the floor more often, she would rank within the top-40 in field-goal percentage with 52.5% from the field, so Pospíšilová and Schramek will need to play with aggression down low.
Responsible for a team-leading 131 helpers and 47 steals, sophomore Jaz Shelley secures 12 points, seven rebounds and five assists in 30.1 minutes per game. Alongside Shelley and Markowski, guard Sam Haiby adds 10.6 points and 3.9 assists with an 82.6% clip from the free-throw line.
Williams’ group posts a 4-6 record outside Lincoln, so if Wisconsin can knock down its free throws and score a few buckets off of turnovers, the Badgers could make some more noise in the conference on Wednesday.
