Women's Basketball Opens Conference Play
December 27, 2001 | Women's Basketball
The 14th-ranked Badger women's basketball team begins the Big Ten season Friday by playing host to No. 7 Purdue (9-1) at home for the third-straight year. Purdue, the defending Big Ten Champions and last year's NCAA runner-up champions, have prevailed over Wisconsin the previous two years. Both the Purdue game, which begins at 7 p.m. CST, and Sunday's noon game at Iowa will be broadcast live on Fox Sports Net as part of the Big Ten television package. The games will be available locally on Fox Sports (Charter cable ch 26).
It has been 15 days since No. 14 Wisconsin (9-1) outscored Drake 40-16 in the second half to secure its eighth-straight win to head into the holiday break with a 9-1 record. The mark equals the 1997 team's season opening and brings the Kohl Center home-win streak to five this season, and 11 dating back to last year.
The Badgers moved up to 14th in their sixth-straight week in the AP poll. Wisconsin entered the USA Today poll at 22nd on Dec. 3, and made its biggest jump from 19th to 14th in the latest rankings. The AP ranking is the highest since an all-time high of 8th in 1997.
A tough non-conference season has prepared Wisconsin for the Big Ten Conference title hunt that begins this week. According to the latest RPI ratings on Dec. 24, Wisconsin has played the toughest schedule in the Big Ten, and ranks 6th nationally in the College RPI ratings. The Badgers also have the 14th toughest schedule in the nation. Purdue, UW's next opponent to open the Big Ten Conference Dec. 28, has an RPI of 9 and the 18th toughest schedule.
Despite losing its season opener to No. 4 Oklahoma, 75-80, Purdue has recovered to enjoy one of the best starts in school history. The Boilermakers are 9-1 and have had only one better start through 10 games in school history when it went 10-0 in 1990-91.
The Boilermakers squeaked by DePaul University last Monday, 63-61, and are 4-1 away from Mackey Arena this season. Purdue leads the Big Ten in scoring margin averaging 75.1 points to 55.2 by opponents for a difference of 19.9. Purdue leads in field goal defense holding opponents to .360 percent.
Wisconsin has lost the last five games to the Boilermakers last year losing in Madison 58-70 and taking Purdue to overtime in West Lafayette before going down 70-75.
Purdue was picked to win the conference again by both the coaches and media, while the Badgers were a preseason pick to finish third by the coaches.
BADGER GAMES HIGHLIGHTS AND BIG TEN STATS
Steals: Tamara Moore is 2nd in the Big Ten in steals averaging 3.4 per game in her quest for the UW and Big Ten steals records. She is 2nd in assists at 7.4/game which also ranks sixth in the nation.
Offense: With the UW's `Terrific Troika' or the senior `Triumvirate' all averaging double-figures, Wisconsin has its inside game (Stomksi at 20.2 ppg), outside game (Black at 13.9 ppg) and slashing game (Moore with 15.7 ppg) all baffling opponent defenses.
Stomski is third in scoring and is second in the Big Ten in rebounds averaging 9.7 rebounds per game. Black ranks 2nd in 3pt goals made with 3.0 per game.
Defense: Wisconsin has held six of nine teams to shooting below 40 percent from the field and held No. 10 NC State below 30 percent (.293).
Second Half Defense: The Badgers have been down at the half twice, both times by double-digits. UW recouped a 15-point halftime deficit to Marquette by holding the Golden Eagles without a field goal the last 8:30 to win 56-55. UW recovered from an 11 point hole to Drake by holding the Bulldogs to 18 percent shooting the second half (6-33) and allowing only one field goal the last 13 minutes to win 74-61.
Rebounding and Turnovers: Problem areas for Wisconsin last season. Texas outrebounded the Badgers 47 to 35, and NC State had a 49-37 advantage. But, overall UW holds a 40.6 to 37.3 advantage over its opponents in rebounds.
o UW forced Texas into 25 turnovers, No. 12 Florida had 26, and Pitt had 26, and No. 10 NC State had 24. Wisconsin is averaging 18.9 TO's per game but forcing an average of 20.9 turnovers by opponents.
Treys: Six different people have hit three-point goals and UW is 62-182 on the year for .341 percent. Kyle Black is a career-best 30-68 for .441 from the arc. As a team UW is second in the Big Ten in treys made per game averaging 6.2
vs. Ranked Teams: UW is 3-0 against top-25 teams this season and 18-33 under Coach Jane Albright (since 1994). The 20-point victory over No. 19 Washington (87-67) tied the UW record for the greatest winning margin over a ranked team. UW beat No. 12 Oklahoma, 97-77, in the 2nd round of the 2000 Coaches vs. Cancer Tournament. UW 's 65-48 win over No. 10 NC State was just UW's seventh win over a top-10 opponent and the fifth under Albright.
