Badgers Win Second Exhibition Game
November 11, 2003 | Women's Basketball
The University of Wisconsin won its second straight pre-season exhibition game with an 84-58 victory over the Velocity Vikings, an AAU select team that featured Hall of Famer Nancy Lieberman. The taller Badgers controlled the paint throughout the game and harassed the Vikings into shooting a mere 27% from the floor to cruise to the victory.
Wisconsin used its height advantage to outrebound the Vikings 65-37 and to score thirty more points in the paint (50-20) during the contest. The Badgers also stretched their defense and limited the Vikings to five three-point baskets on 26 attempts.
'When we have that kind of height advantage and that kind of skill and ability,' said Wisconsin Head Coach Lisa Stone, 'we have got to be able to use that. We went inside, we got good looks, and we shot the ball pretty decently.'
The two teams opened the game by trading baskets, however, and UW held a slim 11-8 lead at the 16:21 mark. The Badgers responded by stepping up their defensive pressure and forcing the Vikings to miss their next ten shots. On the offensive end, Stephanie Rich scored five points, including one of her three three-point baskets of the game, to fuel a 9-0 run that pushed the Wisconsin lead to 20-8 with twelve minutes left on the clock.
The Vikings had trouble finding the basket for the rest of the half and could not get any closer than seven points as the Badgers maintained their lead. UW pounded the ball inside where forwards Emily Ashbaugh and Jordan Wilson combined for 22 points on 9-12 shooting in the opening frame.
UW continued its tight defense in the second half, holding the Vikings to two field goals and six points over the period's first ten minutes to put the game away. The Badgers countered with 21 points over the same span to push its lead to 61-33 with 11:40 left to play. Coach Stone substituted liberally down the stretch as UW took home the victory.
Ashbaugh led three Badgers in double figures with 18 points to go along with 11 rebounds. Rich also notched a double-double with 17 points and 12 rebounds. Lello Gebisa contributed eight points and 13 rebounds, while Wilson finished with 12 points and five rebounds. Kjersten Bakke came off of the bench to score nine points and grab six rebounds in only 12 minutes of action.
Middleton native and former University of Kansas player Angie Halbieb-Murphy led the Vikings with 16 points, and Anna DeForge, of the WNBA, added 13 points and eight rebounds. Corrin VonWald recorded 15 points, while the 45-year old Lieberman turned in a fine all-around performance with 10 points, eight rebounds, and seven assists.
After the game, Coach Stone praised her team's effort: 'I've got a group of women here that are ready to work. Whatever we emphasize, they do, and they're students of the game. They want to learn, they want to get better, and they want to be held accountable for good and bad.'
The Badgers open the regular season in two weeks on Sunday, November 23 against Northern Illinois University at 1:30 P.M. in the Kohl Center.
