With exams lurking around the corner, the Wisconsin women’s basketball team (9-2, 0-1) will close its non-conference slate tonight at the Kohl Center against Robert Morris University (5-3).

Out of the Northeastern Conference, RMU enters the contest with a bit of confidence after playing Marquette tough in a non-conference tilt Sunday.

After a first half that saw the Colonials go just 8-of-24 from the floor — and create a 13-point deficit — RMU fought back, holding the Golden Eagles scoreless for nearly seven minutes and tying the contest with 12 1/2 minutes to play before ultimately succumbing, 67-59.

Last Friday, the Badgers defeated Marquette, 56-49, behind 23 points from junior guard Alyssa Karel.

Karel said that although the team’s schedule lately has been taxing (six road games, followed by three games in five days), on top of impending finals, the team has just enough gas in the tank to close out their non-conference schedule strong.

“Coach always says … this is our first final,” Karel said. “Robert Morris is a good team. They’re going to come in here and they’re going to be really aggressive, so we just have to be able to combat that [and] come out with energy.

“Everyone’s kind of tired having game after game after game after game. It’s just kind of like our last ‘oomph’ before we get a little rest.”

And despite Robert Morris’ strong performance in Milwaukee, the Badgers too ride a self-esteem-boosting victory into tonight’s match-up after dismantling an undersized and undermanned SIU-Edwardsville team 68-38 Sunday.

Wisconsin was led by Karel, who finished with 12 points, junior forward Tara Steinbauer, who posted her third double-double of the year with 10 points and 10 rebounds, and freshman guard Taylor Wurtz, who had 10 points and a career-high 8 rebounds.

In the game, a total of 13 UW players saw action, with 10 players recording 10 minutes or more.

As for tonight’s opponent, RMU features an intriguingly diverse unit with players from five different countries, including the U.S., England, Latvia, Spain and the Dominican Republic.

The Colonials are led by 5-foot-10 senior guard Angela Pace, an all-around contributor who averages 16.5 points, 6.6 rebounds and 5.62 assists.

“They’re very athletic,” head coach Lisa Stone said. “Angela Pace is one of the best, athletic point guards I’ve seen. … So, our team is, I think, excited to finish the non-conference off on a high note, and this’ll be a game where we need to feel very satisfied with how hard we play defense because this is going to take some work tomorrow to stop this team.”

In addition to providing much needed rest before the conference season, the break in play also provides a good opportunity to evaluate the first third of the 2009-2010 season.

From the start, the Badgers seemed to be an improved version of last year’s squad that breezed through the non-conference season with a 13-3 record, but ultimately stumbled in conference play to finish 19-15. Wisconsin began the 2009-10 season with three consecutive wins, but dropped a highly contested Nov. 24 battle with in-state rival UW-Green Bay 60-58 at home.

After bringing back the title from the World Vision Invitational in Eugene, Ore., the Badgers traveled to Raleigh, N.C. and defeated the North Carolina State Wolfpack.

Three days later came the first Big Ten contest at Ohio State, where Wisconsin surged to a 28-20 halftime lead. However, a brutal eight-minute span in the second half saw UW lose its lead and ultimately the game by a score of 70-55.

After two consecutive wins, the Badgers currently find themselves second in the Big Ten with a 9-2 record.

“I’m very, very proud of them.” Stone said of her team. “They’ve endured a hectic non-conference travel schedule, very NBA-like, and done well. We’re nowhere near where we want to be, but I like our focus. I like our growth, and having this be our last game of the non-conference season, it’s like one season’s done.”

Along the way, Wisconsin has taken a number of positives out of its non-conference slate.

Against SIU-Edwardsville this past Sunday, Stone picked up her 100th victory as UW head coach, a feat only two other coaches have accomplished in program history.

In addition, the Badgers saw the emergence of several key role players, including freshman guard Taylor Wurtz. Listed at 6-0, Wurtz boasts solid size for a Big Ten guard, and has lived up to the hype that preceded her as ESPN HoopGurlz’ No. 85-ranked player nationwide. One of the first players off the bench, the freshman has averaged 6.1 points per game.

“I knew she was going to come in here and make a big impact,” Karel said of Wurtz. “We’ve utilized a lot of people, and I was kind of expecting that; I knew that everyone is very capable on this team and pretty much everyone can give something.”

Karel herself has been impressive, as the Badgers’ offensive sparkplug picked up where she left off last season as the team’s leading scorer. Averaging 13.4 points per game, the junior has led the team in scoring in eight times this season. With Stone and her staff electing to implement a new “4-out, 1-in” offensive system in place of the familiar swing offense, Wisconsin was relying on Karel’s offensive leadership to ease the transition.

Always a defense-first team, Wisconsin has bolstered that reputation by leading the Big Ten in defense, surrendering only 56.6 points per game. The offense, however, has been up and down. The Badgers are 10th in the conference with an average of 62 points per game, but that seems admirable next to last year’s average of 56.6.

“We’re not where we need to be yet offensively; I think we’re getting there,” Stone said. “I think our identity is defense and that’s something we rely on and work on every single day. Our offense is getting better and better all the time; it’s not necessarily a weakness, it’s a work in progress.”

Looking forward, the Badgers’ principal goal will be translating their current momentum into a successful Big Ten season.

“We want to, obviously, get this win and go into the conference 10-2,” senior guard Rae Lin D’Alie said. “Really, just having a difference in the Big Ten than we’ve had the last three years. We’ve always done well in non-conference, so we’re looking to change some things and start winning in the Big Ten.”

Stone, pleased with her team’s overall performance throughout the season so far, echoed D’Alie’s sentiments.

“They want to win,” Stone said of her players. “That’s what we want to do, we want to win. To win, we’ve got to play our way. We’re not going to diverge; we’re not going to change how we play.

“We have a specific way of playing, we’re going to play that way, and it’s the right way. Again, we’ll continue to hang our hat on defense, and continue to grow on offense.”