Women's Basketball Concludes Exhibition Play with 88-33 Win Over UW-Platteville
November 13, 2005 | Women's Basketball
Four players scored in double figures as Wisconsin recorded an 88-33 win over Division III UW-Platteville Sunday at the Kohl Center. The Badgers finished 2-0 in the preseason and will play host to Houston Friday in the season-opener.
'We have a lot to work on,' Lisa Stone, Wisconsin head coach, said. 'Defensively, we did some good things and some things that we need to work on. But I credit Platteville. They tried a lot of different things ' a lot of different defensive looks, a press, a zone, a switching man-to-man defense. They kept competing and that's hats off to them. This game is less about the scoreboard and more about the experience. We need to stay intense and not be tentative in any juncture.'
Wisconsin shot 55 percent from the field against the Pioneers, connecting on 22-of-40 attempts in the game. Sophomores Jolene Anderson (Port Wing, Wash.) and Janese Banks (Indianapolis, Ind.) led Wisconsin with 19 and 17 points, respectively. Senior Jordan Wilson (Naperville, Ill.) tallied 11 and sophomore Danielle Ward (Milwaukee, Wis.) added 10 in the winning effort.
The Badgers also pulled down 58 boards, compared to UW-Platteville 's 28. Senior Kjersten Bakke (DeForest, Wis.) paced UW with 11 rebounds. She also tallied nine points, just one shy of a double-double performance. Annie Nelson (Hudson, Wis.) grabbed eight caroms.
In addition, Anderson swiped six steals and Akiya Alexander (Evanston, Ill.) dished six assists in the contest.
Wisconsin committed just five turnovers in the first half and led 50-13 at halftime. The Badgers would continue their solid play on both sides of the ball in the second half.
Wisconsin outscored the Pioneers 26-0 on fast break points and also had 33 points off turnovers, compared to UW-Platteville's four, en route to the win.
Holly Kaiser led UW-Platteville with 13 points and four rebounds.
The Badgers and Cougars will meet at 7 p.m. Friday at the Kohl Center in the season-opener for both teams.
Postgame Quotes
Wisconsin Head Coach Lisa Stone
On what the team has done since its last exhibition game:
'We spent a lot of time offensively, trying to be more patient and get the ball inside. I think you saw us pass up outside shots, and we were patient ' a lot of real good touches and sharing the ball. I believe we had 19 assists to five turnovers at the half, and that's certainly a wonderful percentage that I'd like to continue. The defense is going to tune up a little bit. We 're going to get some big people inside on us where we're going to have to post stronger. But, I was very pleased with our team's sharing of the basketball ' a lot of people got involved, and we tried to even out the minutes with everybody. Even Brittany Cannon ' I would've played Brittany a lot earlier but she's been injured and I asked the trainer, `Can she go in' ' and she wasn't sure that she wanted to, but fortunately she went and got a good look at the basket. I'm glad she didn't get hurt, but we hope to get her back very soon, and she's a true joy."
On Danielle Ward:
'The thing about slowing Danielle down ' just slowing her head down a little bit as far as making a pass and good decisions to cut and put her into a position to score. One place I don't want her to slow down is in her ability to run the floor. She is our fastest player on the basketball team. Out of any guard, when we run a sprint down the floor, Danielle is by far our fastest player. And with that, we can get her out loose. She can beat people down the floor. She finished very well inside. I thought she did a nice job of catching, and our team found her. Shari Welton played some good defense down at the end and made some really nice passes. And our team really did some good things. And, you're right about Danielle Ward. She's really grown into a nice sophomore. Our whole sophomore class has matured into a really nice group, and our team is getting better every day."
On Houston:
'They're very athletic, and they have six newcomers and three new junior college players ' so, nine new players on the roster when, actually, I know (assistant) Coach Freitag has begun some work on them and we just were talking on the side about things we are going to need to do. What I do remember about that game (last year) is we had a one-point lead at the half, and we sent them to the free throw line almost 20 times in the second half and they out-scored us by 20 for the game. Defensive principles ' we're getting there. I think you're seeing our team be much more aggressive, trying to deny ball reversal. We're lessening the touches inside. Some good things are happening, but the show goes on and hopefully we can start on the right foot on Friday."
