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With in-state bragging rights and a pair of winning streaks on the line, the University of Wisconsin women’s basketball team travels to UW-Green Bay to take on the Phoenix at the Kress Center tonight.
UWGB — which enters the contest with a seven-game winning streak — is expecting a sellout crowd of more than 4,000 fans and has a “white out” planned for the game against Wisconsin and its eight-game winning streak. The crowd promises to be the most raucous the Badgers have experienced since losing their opener at South Dakota State.
“Green Bay is a lot like South Dakota State with big crowds and hostile environments,” sophomore guard Alyssa Karel said. “I think that we have improved a lot since the beginning of the season, and we’ve grown a lot and just kind of figured out how to win.”
In order to take the crowd out of the game, the Badgers will look to start strong early by putting up some quick points and making stops on defense.
“It always helps to get off to a quick start when you’re in an environment that’s kind of hostile,” Karel said. “Everybody is against you, and we need to quiet them down so we can kind of get comfortable right away and establish ourselves early on.”
UWGB, despite its relatively small enrollment of 5,416 students, has long been known for its women’s basketball program.
“I think a lot [of their success] has to do with tradition,” UW head coach Lisa Stone said. “They’ve been good for a long time, since back when Carol Hammerle was there, when I was in high school. They have prepared themselves well to put themselves in the top position of the Horizon League each year.”
Offensively, the Phoenix will challenge the Badgers’ defense as they lead Wisconsin in nearly every offensive category. UWGB averages 69 points per game to just 60.1 for UW and are shooting 47.4 percent from the field and 72.8 percent from the charity stripe, compared with 41.1 percent and 64.4 percent, respectively, for the Badgers.
“They play very well together. When someone’s hot, they find that person,” Stone said. “They’ll spread us out, they’ll look inside and they’ll bring their best. They’ve done very well thus far and they’ve taken on some tough opponents.”
In addition to an atmosphere similar to South Dakota State, UWGB will feature a similar style of play, something Wisconsin struggled mightily against in its season opener. After winning eight in a row, the Badgers are ready to show how much they have grown since that 64-44 loss.
“It absolutely [is a chance to put the SDSU game behind us]. There’s no question about it,” Stone said. “What I love about this team is the fact that we have found different ways to win, and we’ve stayed mentally tough.”
UWGB has four players averaging double figures offensively, with center Lavesa Glover leading the team with 11.6 points per game. The starting guards for the Phoenix — junior Rachel Porath, sophomore Celeste Hoeswisch and senior Kati Harty — average 10.7, 10.4 and 10 points per game, respectively.
With so many talented scorers for the Phoenix, the Badgers will need to avoid letting up late in the ball game if they have a big lead once again. Over the past week, Wisconsin has let leads as big as 18 and 20 points dwindle down to two- and six-point victories.
“I think we just get too comfortable with our lead,” Karel said. “We lose our ‘go get ’em’ mentality and we just relax. That’s something we’ve talked about a lot, and we can’t do that anymore. We have to keep pushing through, regardless of our lead.”
After beating UW-Milwaukee at home last week, Wisconsin finishes up its in-state schedule with UWGB and Marquette this week. Although the Badgers lead the overall series against the Phoenix 17-7, today’s matchup is one that they look forward to every year.
“This is a really big week for us,” junior guard Rae Lin D’Alie said. “They’re in-state rivals, and we’ve always kind of battled with them, the last two years especially. We’re going to have to bring it defensively, period. We definitely know we have to bring it.”