Wisconsin Beats Cleveland State 84-59
November 20, 2005 | Women's Basketball
Sophomore Danielle Ward tallied her first career double-double as the Wisconsin women 's basketball team (2-0) beat Cleveland State (0-1) 84-59 Sunday at the Kohl Center. Classmate Janese Banks was one of four Badgers to score in double-figures and finished with 17 points.
Ward (Milwaukee, Wis.) ended with 14 points and a career-high 14 rebounds after finishing one board short of a double-double in UW's opener against Houston. She tied her then-personal best with nine caroms in that contest. Her 14 points against Cleveland State also tied her career-best.
Banks (Indianapolis, Ind.) also set a career-high with five steals and added four assists to accompany her team-best 17 scores. Ashley Josephson (Onalaska, Wis.) finished with 13 points off a 4-for-8 night from the 3-point line. Jolene Anderson (Port Wing, Wis.) finished with 13 points, all coming in the first half, while Annie Nelson (Hudson) added eight rebounds in the win.
Freshman Christine Spencer (Traverse City, Mich.) also scored her first career points as a Badger with a lay-in at 1:33 to play in the game.
Cleveland State opened the second half on a 9-3 run to come within 11 points, 48-37, with 17:31 to play. The Vikings would come within 11 a second time at 12:35 (52-41) but the Badgers followed that with an 8-0 run and lead 60-41 with 10:09 left in the game.
Wisconsin pulled down 45 rebounds to Cleveland State's 35 boards. The Badgers also scored 31 of their points off 23 Viking turnovers.
The Badgers went on a 13-4 run in the first five minutes and took a 27-13 lead with nine minutes to play in the first half. Anderson netted 13 of the team 's first 27 points. Wisconsin closed the half hitting over 50 percent of its shots from the field (19-of-36). UW led for the second consecutive game at halftime, 45-28.
Wisconsin will head on the road for the first time this season to play in Hawaii's Rainbow Wahini Classic. The Badgers will meet Idaho State at 1 p.m. Friday in the first round of the tournament in Honolulu, Hawaii.
Game Notes
' Wisconsin leads the all-time series with Cleveland State 4-1, including two consecutive wins at the Kohl Center.
' Sophomore Danielle Ward tallied her first career double-double with 14 points and 14 rebounds. Her 14 boards also marked a personal best and her 14 scores tied her career high.
' Sophomore Janese Banks recorded a career-high five steals against CSU. Her previous mark was three swipes, which she did five times last year.
' Sophomore Akiya Alexander tallied a personal-best nine points against the Vikings. Her previous career high was five, which she accomplished twice last season.
' Sophomore Shari' Welton also recorded a career-high with six points. She scored five against Ohio State (1/27/05) last season.
' Freshman Christine Spencer scored her first collegiate point with a lay-up at 1:31 in the second half.
' In the first two games of the season, the Badgers have outscored their opponents 93-52 in the first half.
' Wisconsin welcomed back Cleveland State head coach Kate Peterson and assistant coach Kyle (Black) Rechlicz Sunday. Peterson was an assistant coach for the Badgers for six seasons under former head coach Jane Albright and Rechlicz played for the UW from 1998-2002.
Postgame Quotes
Wisconsin Head Coach Lisa Stone
On attacking Cleveland's State's second half zone defense:
'Cleveland State just did what they did last year. They didn 't quit. I give Kate (Peterson) a lot of credit. They battled the whole game and knocked some threes down and got to the foul line. This might have been the longest game we 've had in a long time. Their zone defense slowed us down and we didn't attack as we could.'
On getting to the free throw line:
'Once we started attacking we got to the free throw line, particularly Daniel Ward. She got to the line today probably as much as she did last year. She finally got on a roll and made some free throws. We have a lot of teaching points, a short turn around before we head to Hawaii. I'm proud of our kids. We hung in there and got the win and that's the bottom line.'
On Jolene Anderson's limited playing time in second-half:
'She seems to be having an issue with her mouth, obviously. She spent some time with that this summer. She'll be fine. She's got a little cut on her lip. She'll be fine.'
On Danielle Ward:
'I was saying on the sideline, she's going to get (to the free throw line) a lot. She's around the ball a lot, she's got a slim frame but she hangs onto the ball. We have to get her to make her free throws. But I like us getting there so many times, we to the free throw line 32 times. That's a lot of trips to the free throw line and we put them there 22 times.'
On achieving team goals:
'There's a lot to learn but again, there was good balanced scoring and rebound totals. That was our goal, to out rebound them by 10 and we did. But less than 15 turnovers, we did not do. We got a little lazy with the ball in the first half. In the second half we made some careless mistakes and we just stopped attacking. But it's a win and one we feel good about. It's more enjoyable now tonight, packing my bags for Hawaii with a 2-0 record.'
On Shari' Welton's offensive rebounding:
'There was one where she just jumped up and put it back. It was exciting, there's a lot of stuff Shari can do. She has really matured into a very nice player and gives us great energy. I thought she was our best defensive player in the first half. We should have gone to her a little earlier but she's very patient. She's grown with the team and understands her role in looking to pass then find a second opportunity to score. I can't say enough about her. '
Cleveland State Head Coach Kate Peterson
Opening Statement:
'All of us appreciate the opportunity to come here and play against a Big Ten opponent and really just put it all out there and see where we 're at and where we can get to in the future. I felt that my team just really battled about as hard as they could. Probably we're out-talented in each position, but we fought hard and we utilized the talents that we have and I felt we made some strides (and) played with a lot of passion, and I'm hoping that this will really filter into the regular season as well.'
On the team this year compared to last:
'Wisconsin is making terrific strides in the right direction. Their talent is very young and I think probably still experiencing getting to know what they're capable of. Danielle Ward has become a new player out there ' she's always had the potential, but they're doing a great job of getting that out of her. She was just very raw and now she's starting to really be a basketball player and make great plays. Obviously Jolene and Janese having more experience this year, feeling more comfortable and really being in a position now where they can take over leadership. It's hard when you have so much talent in a young class like that and you have upperclassmen leadership. Once that upper class graduated, it was a chance for those two to really step into a leadership position. I think they 're doing that nicely and I think the future's really bright here for the Badgers.'
'We did want to start a little bit better. I don't know ' did they (Wisconsin) hit every shot they took in the first five minutes ' I felt like they did. I think they were on fire and Wisconsin was just really ready to play. They were very focused and they found the open looks and they knocked them down, starting with Jolene Anderson, who hit probably her first four shots.'
