UW Women's Basketball at UW-Green Bay Saturday
December 12, 2003 | Women's Basketball
Both the UW men's and women's basketball teams are meeting in-state rivals this week as the Badger women's team (3-3) travels to UW-Green Bay (5-2) for a 1 p.m. game on Saturday at the new Resch Center.
UW just completed a five-games-in-nine-days tour with a 3-2 mark, and achieved its first win at home under Lisa Stone with an exciting 76-73 victory over Iowa State Sunday to even its record at .500.
While the Badgers were beating the Cyclones on a last second shot last weekend, UW-Green Bay was experiencing the opposite fate having rallied from an 11 point deficit to take the lead against Maine, only to lose its first game of the year by the identical score, 76-73, Friday in Green Bay. The loss halted the Phoenix 16-game home win streak. UW-Green Bay lost 62-51 to 19th-ranked Texas Christian University Thursday in the fifth of a six-game home stand for the Phoenix.
First-year Badger Coach Lisa Stone will coach her 500th collegiate game at UW-Green Bay. With a 19-year record of 378-121, she has won .758 percent of her games. UW-Green Bay Coach Kevin Borseth is 119-11 in his sixth season, and 344-138 in a 17-year career. He took his 24-8 team to the NCAA second round last year and a 24th place national ranking.
The Badgers return to their home court after finals on Monday, Dec. 22 at 7 p.m. for a game with UW-Milwaukee. That is when fans will have an answer to a question on everyone's mind since the last home win. Will the 'Kohl Center Dash' become a tradition'
The Kohl Center Dash evolved from a self-admitted moment of euphoria when Badger Coach Lisa Stone won her first home game versus Iowa State on Dec. 7. After meeting with her team at half-court, she galloped up the steps to embrace her family and friends in her hometown of Oregon fan section. What made the sprint even more impressive, is how she bounded up the 20-plus steps while wearing a skirt and stilettos (heels).
Stone said of her sprint, "I lost my mind there for a minute, particularly with heels on and a dress. That little Oregon section, I needed to touch them."
So, will the Kohl Center Sprint become a new Kohl Center tradition ' Inquiring minds want to know!
WISCONSIN'S KEY PERSONNEL
' Senior 6-5 center Emily Ashbaugh (Woodinville, Wash.) is averaging a career-best 13.8 points and 7.5 rebounds per game. She had her sixth career double-double to lead UW against Butler with 22 points and 10 rebounds.
' Junior all-everything guard Stephanie Rich (Crawfordsville, Iowa), has been impressive in several categories in her games this year. She set a Kohl Center record for three-point attempts hitting 4-of-13 against NIU to tie for scoring honors with 16 points.
A 2003 All-Big Ten Honorable Mention player, she is posting career-bests and ranks No. 1 in the Big Ten in assists (7.7), third in assist-turnover ratio with 2.19, and ranks fourth in steals (2.7). Her 12 assists vs. Notre Dame and her 19 field goal attempts (5-of-19) in the NIU game were career-highs. She had a career-high nine rebounds vs. Hampton and is averaging 8.7 points, 4.5 rebounds and 1.0 blocks per game. She is also perfect at the line hitting 10-of-10.
' Another player having a career year is sophomore guard Ashley Josephson (Onalaska, Wis.), who scored the game winner and added the free throw vs. Iowa State. She is leading the Badgers and ranks fourth in the Big Ten in three-point shooting hitting 12-24 for .500 percent, and is 10-12 for .833 percent at the free throw line. She had career-highs in points (18), rebounds (6), and free throws (6-6) in the Hampton game and earned all-tournament honors at the Miami Tournament.
' Sophomore 5-11 forward Kjersten Bakke (DeForest, Wis.) came off the bench to collect seven rebounds and seven points vs. NIU, both were career-bests. She was sidelined with a right shoulder injury and missed the two games in the Miami tourney.
' Sophomore 6-1 forward Jordan Wilson (Naperville, Ill.) was named the MVP of the Miami tournament with a monster championship game that included career-highs of 13 points and 15 rebounds, the most rebounds in a single game of any Big Ten player. She is averaging career-bests 6.3 points and 6.7 rebounds per game.
' Freshman guard Kandace Evans (Southfield, Mich.) scored had a career-high six points vs. ISU and is averaging 2.7 points per game. The speedy point guard came off the bench to earn four assists in her collegiate debut vs. NIU and averages 2.0 assists/game.
' Lello Gebisa (W. Lafayette, Ind.) had a season-high 17 points to lead UW in the win over Iowa State and tied her season-high with eight rebounds. She led the Big Ten in blocks with 2.10 per game in 2003. She is currently sixth in the conference averaging 1.17 blocks/game.
' The Gebisa sisters (Lello and Ebba) are Wisconsin 's fourth sister duo to play basketball in school history. UWs other sister tandems include Theresa and Janet Huff of Milwaukee (1979-84); twins Kim and Kay Fredrickson of Durand, Wis. (1987-91), and Jennah (Hartwig) and Michele Burkholder of Janesville, Wis. (1993-98).
' Junior guard Shawna Nicols (Milwaukee, Wis.) was told by team doctors Oct. 31 she will be unable to participate competitively for Wisconsin due to multiple head injuries. Nicols averaged 2.3 points, 1.5 assists and 17 minutes per game last year and was expected to challenge for a starting role this season.
' When played together, 6-7 Lello Gebisa, 6-5 Emily Ashbaugh and 6-3 Ebba Gebisa comprise the tallest front line in the Big Ten.
BADGER NOTES FROM 2003-04
' Badgers re-set a Kohl Center record with 22 three-point attempts vs. Iowa State on 12/7/03 (9-22). UW set the record initially in the first game with 19 attempts.
' UW is shooting .708 percent from the charity stripe (68-96). The school record for a season is .719 percent set in 1991.
' The Badgers averaged 22 turnovers a game last season, but have reduced that to 17.8 per game this year with a season low 12 vs. Iowa State on 12/7. The last time UW had as few as 12 turnovers was against Michigan on Jan. 6, 2002.
' UW has outrebounded three of the six teams (and tied one) its played this year and averages 37.5 caroms to 35.2 by its opponents.
' The Badgers rank No. 3 in the Big Ten in field goal percentage defense holding opponents to .370 percent from the field.
' The Badgers are tied for fifth in blocks with 3.8 per game. UW outnumbers opponents 23 blocks to nine. Wisconsin topped the Big Ten in 2003 averaging 5.29 per game.
' UW claimed just its 10th tournament title in its 30-year school history when it won the Sonesta Coconut Grove Thanksgiving Classic title in Miami.
' Badger Coach Lisa Stones first six-member recruiting class is ranked 15th nationally by All-Star Girls Report.
ABOUT UW-GREEN BAY
Season Results
Tallying wins over Pacific and Santa Clara as well as sweeping their Holiday Tournament over Thanksgiving defeating Centenary and Missouri, the Phoenix were undefeated heading into December. However the Maine Black Bears snapped UWGB's streak at 16 home wins and gave the Phoenix their first loss despite a rally to turn an 11-point second-half deficit into a one-point lead with 57 seconds left in regulation. Maine was able to tally four free throws in the last 16 seconds to win the game, 76-73.
UW-Green Bay loves the three-pointer and set the Kohl Center records in the Badgers loss last year hitting 11-of-18 for .611 percent. This season the Phoenix is 44-of-98 for .449 percent.
Green Bay played host to 19th-ranked TCU on Thursday recording their second straight loss, 62-51.
Players to Watch
The Phoenix had heavy graduation losses from last years NCAA qualifying team and had another major loss with the season-ending knee injury to senior Tiffany Mor. Mor was named MVP of the Holiday Tournament despite her injury midway through the title game against Missouri. Prior to the injury, Mor averaged 17 points and 6.5 rebounds.
Senior guard Natalie Yudt leads UW-Green Bay with 13.8 points per game and had a career-high 22 points in the loss to Maine.
Against Maine, freshman Nicole Soulis reached double-figures for the fourth time this season. Soulis has been proving herself as a solid contributor posting 15 points in both of her two starts.
Junior Abby Scharlow had 14 points against Maine and hit 3-of-4 from the three-point range. The junior guard had four rebounds, four steals, four assists and 17 points against Missouri.
The Series
The Phoenix and Badgers have the longest running series between UW-Madison and all the state schools. The Badgers have won 14 of 20 meetings over the past 30 years. However, UWGB has claimed the last two wins both in Madison. The 52-77 loss on Nov. 24, 2002, marked the greatest margin of defeat by the Badgers in series history. The Badgers have a 6-2 mark in Green Bay.
