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Lisa Stone, head coach of the University of Wisconsin's women's basketball team, has until Friday to regroup her team after what has been an eventful week. After falling to the defending WNIT champion Wyoming in an overtime thriller last Tuesday, the team got back on track, defeating Ole Miss 74-57 in the Holiday Pepperdine Tournament in Los Angeles.

Wisconsin easily handled Ole Miss in the tournament opener, a game in which Wisconsin's size advantage allowed the team to grab a season-high 58 rebounds.

"I really liked what our team did and how our team looked," Stone said in her Monday press conference. "[We] played good defense, shared the basketball, had four players in double figures and did some really good things against a good team."

Looking to build off of the win, Wisconsin (2-2) never got the chance to play in the tournament's championship game. Though Badger hopes had been high, they were quickly doused by the rapidly approaching Californian wildfires. Regarding chances to reschedule the, Stone left everything in the hands of the Pepperdine staff, supporting the decision to put safety first.

"They did try to move the game, but the right thing to do was to cancel the tournament," Stone said. "They had evacuated the campus. [Safety] is way more important than basketball."

The team will now hit the road once more for the annual Big Ten-ACC challenge that will send the Badgers to Charleston Friday when the Wisconsin will meet up with Virginia (4-3). 

Weak spots identified early on

Expectations were lofty for the experienced Badgers heading into the season, but now with two losses already this season Stone, though impressed with the team's cohesiveness, is looking for improvement.

"[Team chemistry] is at an all-time high, and we've spent a lot of time together," Stone said. "They need to work some things out themselves and not have us walk them through everything, and I think I'm starting to see some of those things."

Free-throw shooting and turnovers have plagued Wisconsin in the early part of the season, but Stone is nonetheless confident the team will be able to shape up in those areas.

 "We're going too fast. I think we need to slow down, be a little more patient and more deliberate," Stone said. "We are in too much of a hurry, something we need to address and hopefully improve on."

 Freshmen making impact

A deep freshman class has already made its presence felt for Wisconsin. Alyssa Karel has had streaky performances through four games including a two-minute stretch against Wyoming that saw the guard force two turnovers despite missing a shoe.

Fellow freshman, forward Lin Zastrow, played a key role over the weekend, posting 11 points and nine rebounds against Ole Miss, setting career-highs.

"I thought Lin Zastrow had a tremendous breakout game against Ole Miss," Stone said. "I like the development of our freshmen."

Difficult as it may be for freshmen to make strides at the Division I collegiate level, the Badger freshmen have been making progress each game. Natural talent has helped Zastrow thus far, establishing herself in the post position.

"It's hard for a post player, getting used to the physicality of Division I basketball," Stone said. "[Zastrow's] has that ability to score and rebound, and she did a really, really good job on a very physical post player."