Women's Basketball Opens Regular Season
November 22, 2002 | Women's Basketball
The Wisconsin women's basketball season begins tonight with a return to Coach Jane Albright's old stomping ground at Northern Illinois University (0-0) in DeKalb. The game will be broadcast on WTSO radio 1070 with Aaron Sims, and be available on the internet at UWBADGERS.COM.
Albright became the winningest coach in NIU history with a 188-110 mark during her 10-year tenure prior to coming to Wisconsin in 1994. This will be the first `official' game in the new NIU Convocation Center.
The Badgers (0-0 overall, 0-0 Big Ten) concluded their exhibition season with a 1-1 record having defeated Lithuania 84-72 in its second game last week. UW opened its ninth season under Jane Albright and its 29th season in school history on Nov. 10 with an 85-72 loss to the Wisconsin AAU Select team in exhibition game at the Kohl Center.
Sunday UW's home season begins by playing host to UW-Green Bay at 1:30 p.m. in the Kohl Center. The Phoenix are on the road at Illinois Friday before coming to Madison.
WISCONSIN'S PERSONNEL
The Badgers return two starters from last season's 19-12 team that qualified for it's second-straight NCAA tournament. The top returning scorer is starting center Emily Ashbaugh who averaged 6.7 points and 4.8 rebounds per game. The other starter returning is senior Kristi Seeger with 3.8 points and 3.9 rebounds per game average last season. Both players had double figure scoring in the opening exhibition, Ashbaugh with 17 points and nine boards, and Seeger with 10 points and 11 rebounds. Seeger had 14 points and nine boards in the second exhibition.
Albright experimented with several combinations in exhibition play. Sophomore guard Stephanie Rich (3.2 ppg) doubled at point and shooting guard. She had 16 points in each of the exhibition games. Senior Leah Hefte (3.0 ppg) and sophomore Ebba Gebisa (5.0 ppg, 3.5 rpg) both started the opening games. E Gebisa led all scores in the second exhibition with 20 points including making 10-of-12 foul shots. Four newcomers also had their debut including the tallest player to ever play for Wisconsin, 6-7 Lello Gebisa.
The junior center came off the bench to score 16 points in both exhibition games and added 16 rebounds against Lithuania. She leads the team in scoring with Rich, both at 16.0 points per game and averaged 12 rebounds in the two outings. Seeger also averaged a double-double with 12.0 points and 10 rebounds per game.
LAST TIME OUT: Vs. Lithuania
Inspired play by junior center Lello Gebisa and critical foul shots by her sister, Ebba, contributed to a 16-6 late second half run that outdistanced the visiting Lithuanians, 84-72. Lello Gebisa came off the bench for 16 points and 16 rebounds, and Ebba led all scores with 20 points including 10-of-12 at the line. Guard Stephanie Rich had her second 16-point outing of the exhibition season while adding six assists. Kristi Seeger nearly collected her second-straight double-double with 14 points and nine rebounds.
LAST TIME OUT: Vs. Wisconsin AAU TEAM
The Wisconsin AAU Select squad including just-graduated Badger players Jessie Stomski and Tamara Moore and former players Karie Cattanach and Dee Dee Pate, shot 81 percent from beyond the arc burying nine-of-11 three pointers to lead 48-30 at the half. The team hit 15-25 treys for the game (60 percent). Wisconsin was down by as much as 30 in the second half, but came back to make it a game before losing 85-72. Anna DeForge led the all-stars with 21 points while Stomski had 13. Moore had eight points and six assists.
Wisconsin Coach Jane Albright
Beginning her ninth season, Jane Albright earned her 150th victory at Wisconsin Jan. 13, 2002, and had one of her finest years last season as the winningest women's basketball coach in Wisconsin history with a 154-86 (.642 percent) record. She has led UW to a school record eight consecutive winning seasons, seven post-season tournament bids and four 20-win seasons. Wisconsin has attended five NCAA tournaments and was the 2000 WNIT Champion and 1999 WNIT runnerup champion.
Wisconsin Captains
Seniors Kristi Seeger of Stoughton, Wis., and Leah Hefte of McFarland, Wis., and junior Emily Ashbaugh of Woodinville, Wash., were voted by the team as captains this season. Seeger and Ashbaugh are the two returning starters from last year 's 19-12 team. Hefte is the top returning three-point shooter and will challenge for the starting two-guard positions this year.
Badgers Last Season
Wisconsin (19-12) completed its season March 16 losing 73-70 to Arizona State (25-8) in the first round of the NCAA Midwest subregional at Nashville, Tenn. UW received a No. 8 seed in its second, consecutive NCAA Tournament. It was the fifth appearance under current coach Jane Albright, and sixth NCAA bid in program history.
The 2001-02 season was one of records and firsts. UW had its first appearance in the semifinals of the Big Ten Tournament with wins over Northwestern, 60-54, and over No. 17 Minnesota, 74-64, in the quarter-finals. That win moved UW past last year 's record of 18-10. Wisconsin was 6-3 vs. top-25 teams this season. UW lost to runnerup champion Penn State in the Big Ten semifinals, 76-62.
The Badgers completed the Big Ten Conference regular season tied for fifth place in the Big Ten with an 8-8 record. The Badgers lost nine of their last 10 regular season games (six of them on the road) after opening the season with a school-best 16-1 record including a record 15-straight wins. Minnesota stopped the streaking Badgers, 92-85, on Jan. 20 in front of a Big Ten record crowd of 17,142 in a sellout at the Kohl Center in Madison. It was UW's first conference loss after a tying a school-best 7-0 start.
Four seniors graduated the UW team including starters Kyle Black, Jessie Stomski and Tamara Moore. Stomski and Moore combined for career marks in a number of significant categories. The trio comprised 66 percent of UW's scoring and 43 percent of Wisconsin's rebounding. Moore became UW all-time steals and assists leader and tied the record for most consecutive games played with 124. Stomski finished second in career scoring and rebounding, and tied for most double-doubles with 37.
BADGER SIGNEE
Badger Coach Jane Albright announced the signing of Sasha Reaves, a 6-0 forward, to a national letter of intent Thursday. Reaves, from Mullins, S.C., becomes the first UW recruit from South Carolina.
A three-time Class AA All-State performer, she averaged 22.6 points, 12.9 rebounds and 3.5 assists as a junior. Reaves has played varsity and started all but one game since the eighth grade. She was the first player in South Carolina history to start every game and win a state championship as an eighth grader.
A 2002 adidas All-American, she was a two-time Toast of the Coast Player of the Year, and the Region VII AA Player of the Year. She was also named the Murtle Beach Sun News Player of the Year in 2001 and 2002. Her career stats include 1,742 points and 1,088 rebounds which equates to 17.7 points and 11.1 rebound averages in 99 career games. The team record since she began participating is 74-6.
Home Sweet Home
The Badgers enjoy a definite homecourt advantage with a 52-14 record (.787 percent) since opening the Kohl Center in January of 1998. Jane Albright is 89-20 (.816 percent) at home in the Field House and Kohl Center since coming to Wisconsin in 1994 '95. Wisconsin won nine in a row and finishes 10-3 last season. UW set a school-record with 15 home wins in a row last year dating back to last January 7, 2001 (UW-GB 82, UW-M 80 OT). UW's home win record is 11 straight in one season (1983-84).
Wisconsin on the Road
UW was 9-9 (.500) away from the Kohl Center last season (5-3 neutral games). UW finished 3-5 in Big Ten road appearances. UW had a 9-8 (.529) road mark in 2001 and was 5-3 on the road vs. the Big Ten. 9-8 was the best road record since 1995 '96 (11-6, .647). The best-ever Badger road record of 10-4 (.714) was set in 1981 '82 (UW finished 19-8 overall). The best Big Ten road mark of 6-3 was set in 1983, the first year of conference round robin play.
Wisconsin Coach Jane Albright
Jane Albright, also known as Coach 'A', is the winningest coach in Wisconsin history. Now in her ninth season, she is the second most veteran coach in the Big Ten.
' UW'S ALL-TIME WINNINGEST COACH Albright became the Badgers' all-time winningest coach midway through her 7th season on Feb. 11, 2001. She began the year ranked 53rd among winningest active coaches in the NCAA, and 47th for all-time division I wins.
' EIGHT WINNING SEASONS 'Coach A' has led the Badgers to a program-first eight consecutive winning seasons including six of the 10 best records in school history. Prior to her arrival, the Badgers had one winning season in the previous 10 years (record of 102-176 for .367 percent from 1984-1994).
' SEVEN POST SEASON BIDS UW has had five NCAA tournament bids, two WNIT bids, and four 20-win seasons in the last seven years. The 1999 and 2000 Badgers advanced to the WNIT championship games and won the title in 2000. Wisconsin advanced to the 2nd round of the NCAA tournaments in 1995 and 1996, for its first ever NCAA wins. The Badgers lost in the 1st rounds in 1998 and 2001.
' 20-WIN SEASONS Albright has had nine 20-win seasons in the last 12 years, both at Northern Illinois (1984-94, 188-110), and four at Wisconsin including the school's first back-to-back 20-win seasons (1995'20-9; 1996 '21-8)
' USA COACHING Albright won a gold medal while the head coach of the 1996 USA Williams R. Jones Cup team, the elite second U.S. international team selected after the Olympic squad.
Badger Records Under Albright
Year Overall Big Ten Post Season
2001-02 19-12 (.613) 8-8 (T5th) NCAA 1st
2000-01 18-10 (.643) 12-4 (T2nd) NCAA 1st
1999-00 21-12 (.636) 8-8 (T5th) WNIT Champions
1998-99 18-14 (.562) 9-7 (T4th) WNIT 2nd Place
1997-98 21-10 (.677) 9-7 (6th) NCAA 1st
1996-97 16-11 (.592) 8-8 (T6th)
1995-96 21-8 (.724) 12-4 (3rd) NCAA 2nd
1994-95 20-9 (.690) 11-5 (3rd) NCAA 2nd
