Badgers Roll Over UW-Milwaukee, 78-45
November 20, 2006 | Women's Basketball
Four players reached double-figure scoring, led by Jolene Anderson's 17 scores, as the Wisconsin women's basketball team (4-0, 0-0 Big Ten) defeated UW-Milwaukee 78-45 Monday at the Kohl Center. The 33-point margin of victory ties the largest win under fourth-year head coach Lisa Stone.
The win over the Panthers also was the largest against UWM since 1993, when the Badgers won by 50 at the Field House.
In addition to Anderson's 17 points, junior Janese Banks scored 13 while Caitlin Gibson and rookie Rae Lin D'Alie each chipped in 12. D'Alie, who set a personal-best, was perfect from the field on the night, shooting 5-for-5 from the field, including two from 3-point land. Teah Gant and Mariah Dunham also pitched in seven apiece to aid the Badger scoring.
'We came out strong and I am really proud of our kids,' Stone said. We took really good care of the ball and only had four turnovers in the first half. We took care of the ball, shared the ball and got a lot of people in the game.'
Wisconsin once again was solid from the field, shooting 47.8 percent. The Badgers have shot over 40 percent from the field in all four of its games this year. Wisconsin also won the battle on the boards, outrebounding UWM 35-27. Anderson and Gibson led UW with six board apiece.
The Badgers got off to a quick start with a 24-0 run to open the game. The Wisconsin defense shutout the Panthers for nearly 10 minutes. UWM ended the draught with a jumper by Megan Rogers at 10:21. Wisconsin responded on the next possession with a bucket by Danielle Ward. The Badgers closed the first half with a 43-16 lead.
Wisconsin forced 24 Panther turnovers and converted those into 26 points. The Badgers also outscored UW-Milwaukee in the paint, 42-14.
Sophomore Traci Edwards led UW-Milwaukee (1-4) with 10 points and 12 rebounds for a double-double performance.
Wisconsin will play next in the Las Vegas Tournament, hosted by UNLV, at 3 p.m. (CST) Friday vs. 2006 WNIT champion Kansas State.
Post-Game Notes
'Tonight's attendance was 4,729.
'Wisconsin has started 4-0 the last two seasons.
'The Badgers are 17-1 all-time against UW-Milwaukee and have won the past 10 meetings between the two schools.
'The 33-point win ties the largest margin of victory under fourth-year head coach Lisa Stone. Wisconsin also recorded a 33-point win over IUPUI in the 2004-05 season opener. The Badgers won that game 82-49 at the Kohl Center on Nov. 19.
'In addition, Wisconsin's 33-point win was the largest over UWM since 1993, when the Badgers defeated the Panthers 108-58 (+50) at the Field House.
'Wisconsin's nine turnovers are the fewest committed this season.
'Junior Jolene Anderson finished with a team-high 17 points adding to her ongoing double-digit scoring streak. The Port Wing, Wis., native has reached double figures in the past 33 games, dating back to the first game of last season.
'Anderson also has made at least one 3-pointer in 53 of 61 career contests.
'Caitlin Gibson (12) and Anderson (17) have each reached double-figure scoring in all four games this year.
'Rookie Rae Lin D'Alie was perfect from the field on the night, hitting all five of her field goal attempts, including a 2-of-2 mark from 3-point land. D 'Alie's 12 points are a personal-best, with her previous career-high (eight) coming against Western Michigan (11/14/06).
Post-Game Quotes
Wisconsin Head Coach Lisa Stone
Opening Comments: 'Going into this game, you are nervous. That's a good basketball team and we did a good job with them. We just came out really strong, I'm really proud of our kids. We took really good care of the ball, we only had four turnovers in the first half and I didn't even tell them. I did tell them that we took really good care of the ball, shared the ball really well and got a lot of people in the game.'
On Rae Lin D'Alie: 'She can shoot and that's what people don't think she can do. She is small and mighty, but she's got all kind of surprises in her. She showed the crowd tonight that she's prolific from outside and you can't leave her open. She made that driving layup where she faked to the wing and then came over to me and said `sorry about that, I had to do that.' I said, `Don't apologize to me, that 's a great move.' I love her energy and her enthusiasm. It's infectious for our team and gets us fired up.'
On Jolene Anderson: 'I thought she played very courageously. She took one to the teeth on the baseline. That kid plays hard and she plays her butt off all the time. I challenged the character of our team to make sure that they came out in the second half and maintained our intensity, and I think we did a pretty good job of that.'
UW-Milwaukee Head Coach Sandy Botham
Opening Statement: 'Wisconsin outplayed us. When you look at the stat sheet, it's our turnovers and that's been kind of our Achilles heels in the last couple of games that we've lost against these kind of opponents. They put a lot of pressure on us in the full court and in the half court and we just didn't execute. Wisconsin took advantage of it. In the first half they obviously set the tempo. They had 17 points off our turnovers and to me that was the game ' us just not taking care of the basketball and not handling the pressure like we could have.
"(I'm) obviously disappointed that we couldn't come in and play better. Our kids are coming off three games in four days and so we put them in a tough situation coming down here to play the Badgers, and I think it showed, especially in the first half. As you look again at the score, in the second half we played it to a six-point game, but we just didn't have the legs in the beginning to really come out of the blocks well and never could recover.'
