UW Women's Basketball Opens Big Ten Season
December 27, 2006 | Women's Basketball
The UW women's basketball team opens the Big Ten Conference season at home Thursday by playing host to Northwestern (6-7) at the Kohl Center at 7 p.m. The game will be televised live on Fox Sports Net North with Bob Brainerd and Shawna Nicols. It may also be heard on WIBA Radio AM 1310 with Mike Heller and on Yahoo.com.
Badgers (11-2) equalled their total number of wins from a year ago with the 86-66 victory over Harvard Dec. 15. UW has had a 13-day hiatus from competition for exams and the holiday break. The Badgers are enjoying their best start under fourth year Coach Lisa Stone, and have UW's best beginning since the 2001-02 team went 16-1. The 8-0 home record is also the best since 2001-02 (team opened 9-0). This current UW team is the third fastest in school history to reach 10 wins after the 1982-83 (started 13-1) and 2001-02 (started 16-1) teams.
Following Northwestern, the Badgers are on the road at No. 21 Michigan State (9-2) in a game broadcast on WTSO AM 1070 on Sunday at 1 p.m.
ANDERSON WAS PLAYER OF THE WEEK FOR DEC. 18
Jolene Anderson earned her first Big Ten player of the week honor and the second for UW this year with a pair of 20-point games as Wisconsin fell on the road to UW-Green Bay, 70-66, but bounced back at home in an 86-66 win over Harvard. She tallied her 14th career double-double with a team-high 21 points and 13 rebounds while adding five assists at UW-Green Bay on Dec. 13.
In the team's 20-point victory over Harvard on Dec. 15, Anderson finished with 22 points, six boards, four assists and three steals. She was 8-of-11 (.727) from the field including a 3-of-6 mark from beyond the arc. On the week, the Badger junior was 16-of-26 shooting (.615), averaging 21.5 points, 9.5 rebounds, 4.5 rebounds and 2.0 steals. Junior guard Janese Banks earned her first honor, and Wisconsin's first POW honor since 2002, in the first week of the season on Nov. 13.
INDIVIDUAL NOTES
BRINGS HER `A' GAME: Guard Jolene Anderson (Port Wing, Wis.), started a new double-digit scoring streak with 24 points vs. S. Mississippi and it now stands at six, four of which were 20-points games including a season high 28 points vs. Albany. Her previous double-figure scoring streak ended at 35 games after collecting just five points in the loss at UC-Riverside Nov. 28. Anderson did have the longest in the Big Ten which dated back to the last game of 2005 until Nov. 28, 2006. The streak ended 10 games shy of the school record of 45 held by LaTonya Sims. Anderson has scored in double figures in 66 of her 70 career games. Wisconsin lost all four games in which she was held below 10 points. Her career-low was two points against Iowa State on Dec. 5, 2004, the sixth game of her career.
She has started in every game as a Badger (70) and is UW's leading scorer for the third-straight season with 17.5 points per game which ranks second in the Big Ten. Last year she averaged 17.3 points per game which ranked fourth in the Big Ten in overall stats. She was the fastest male or female Badger to score 1,000 points (end of sophomore season 57th game; career points now 1,227), and has had 14 double-doubles in her career. She has made at least one 3-pointer in 58 of her 70 career games.
Anderson was named the Big Ten Player of the week for Dec. 18, and was recently named a Naismith Player of the Year Top 50 honoree. She was the MVP of the 2006 Rebel Shootout in Las Vegas. She was also all-tournament and MPV of last year's 2005 Rainbow Wahini Classic in Hawaii.
SHE'S MONEY: Junior guard Janese Banks (Indianapolis) is the second-leading scorer with 14.8 points per game. She showed her versatility with a great stats line at Air Force and earned Big Ten Player of the Week honors with a career-high 28 points on 9-of-13 shooting including three-of-four 3-pointers. She also added seven rebounds and four assists. She is leading the team in field goal shooting hitting 55 percent.
Banks was the second-leading scorer in 2005-06 with 12.8 points per game. She led the Badgers in assists with 4.42 per game while playing point guard. She has led UW in most free throws the past two years and does again converting 46-62 for 74.2 percent. Banks was named to the Rebel Shootout all-tournament team, her second such honor.
TEDDY BEAR: Sophomore Center Caitlin Gibson (Jefferson, Wis.), who takes a teddy bear with her on road trips, has scored in double figures in five games including a career-high 15 points vs. Western Michigan. She is averaging 8.2 points per game compared with 5.1 ppg as a freshman.
THE BLOCKMASTER: Junior 6-4 center Danielle Ward (Milwaukee, Wis.) is leading the team in blocks (1.77), and is third in steals (1.85). She has lost playing time sitting in foul trouble (averages 3.0/game). A starter in the last eight games of 2006, she ranked third on the team in scoring (10.2) and was second in rebounding with 5.7 per game. She had 11 boards vs. K-State and added a season high 16 points vs. UNLV. Ward was named to the Rebel Shootout all-tournament team, her first such honor.
SUGAR RAE: Sweet Rae Lin D'Alie (Waterford, Wis.) is the first TRUE starting point guard at Wisconsin since Dee Dee Pate graduated in 2000. The 5-3 freshman (pronounced duh lee ah) ties Purdue's starting point guard, FahKara Malone, as the smallest starting point guard in the nation. She was a perfect 5-of-5 from the floor and had a career-high 12 points against UW-Milwaukee. She leads UW in assists with 3.92 per game and contributes 4.8 points per game.
POINT GUARD, TOO: Freshman Sarah Ingison (Roseville, Minn.) spells D'Alie at the point. At 5-7, she gives a different look to the Badgers with a bigger size and the pace with which she handles the offense. Ingison contributes 1.31 assists per game.
THE IGNITER: Freshman Mariah Dunham (Watertown, Wis.) usually comes off the bench to hit a couple quick shots which ignites the team and the crowd. The post player can be an outside threat with the 3-pointer where she is hitting 15-39 for 38.5 percent. Dunham has hit for double-figures in four games with a career-high 14 points vs. S. Mississippi. She is averaging 7.4 points and 4.7 rebounds per game.Updates
MISS CONSISTENCY: Freshman 6-2 forward Brittany Heins (Postville, Iowa) was sidelined by a right ankle injury in the Central Connecticut State game 11/17 and missed the UW-Milwaukee game. A good post player with a nice outside touch, she made her first 3-pointer in collecting a career-high seven points on 12/7, and is slowly increasing her playing time while averaging 2.8 points and 2.4 rebounds per game.
TEAM NOTES
NO SENIORS: The 2006-07 Badger squad has NO SENIORS. The team consists of seven freshmen, two sophomores, and four juniors.
SAME LINEUP: The Badgers have used the same starting lineup all season (Ward, Gibson, Banks, Anderson, D'Alie)
9-PLAYER ROTATION: All nine players used in the regular rotation are averaging double-digit minutes.
POLLS: The Badgers received 20 votes in the Associated Press Poll on Nov. 27 and seven votes Dec. 4. The last time the Badgers were ranked in either poll was Feb. 18, 2002 (17-8 record by USA Today).
ALL GOOD: This season the Badger bench has outscored, and UW has outrebounded all 13 of its opponents.
' Wisconsin is 11-0 when leading at the half.
' Wisconsin is 11-2 when outrebounding its opponent
' Wisconsin is 11-2 when outscoring its opponents bench
SCORING DEFENSE: Wisconsin is using its defense to outscore and confound its opponents. UW is allowing opponents an average of just 52.4 points per game this season (2nd in the Big Ten). The school record for opponent points allowed is 53.5 set in 1974-75, the first year of intercollegiate competition at Wisconsin.
STEALS: Also relating to defense, UW ranks first in the Big Ten in steals per game averaging 11.62.
SCORING MARGIN: Ten of 13 Badger opponents have scored 58 or less points, and five have scored less than 50 points. UW is averaging 20.1 points more than its opponents (2nd in Big Ten).
POINT PRODUCTION: The high-flying Badgers scored 91 points in their first game against Air Force and are averaging 73.5 points per game (second in the Big Ten). The 91 points was the most points scored since a 104-91 win over Santa Clara in 2004.
POINT No. 2: UW nearly doubles its opponents points made off turnovers, second chance points, and bench points, and has five times as many fast break points as its opponents.
REBOUNDING PROWESS: Last season UW was the top rebounding team in the Big Ten with 40.0 rebounds per game. UW was also the conference leader in offensive boards with 16.34 per game. This season UW has outrebounded every team and is fifth in the conference averaging 40.2 rebounds per game (ranks second in offensive boards with 15.38 per game).
TURNOVERS: The Badgers rank first in the Big Ten in turnover margin forcing opponents into 22.15 turnovers per game while averaging 18.46 for a plus margin of 3.69. UW has made fewer turnovers than its opponent in nine-of-13 games this season
HOME RECORD: Wisconsin's 8-0 home start is the best since 2001-02 when the team went 9-0 enroute to a 10-3 home mark. UW's best home record is 12-1 (1983-84). That team started 11-0 before a loss. UW has also been 11-1 at home twice.
SEASON START: The 11-2 mark is the best start and the six-straight wins to start the season was the longest win streak for Lisa Stone. The 11-2 mark is UW's best beginning since the 2001-02 team started 16-1.
CLOSE GAMES: UW is 2-1 in games decided by three points or less, and 2-2 in games decided by four points or fewer. Last year UW was 0-4 (three points or less), and 2-8 in games decided by six points or less.
Scouting Report: Northwestern University
Northwestern concluded the non-conference season at 6-7 with an 80-66 lost at Utah Dec. 20. The Wildcats, who opened the season with three wins, have lost their last three games.
Through 12 games, senior A.J. Glasauer leads Northwestern in scoring, putting up 14.0 points per game. Glasauer also ranks first on the squad in assists and is tops in shooting from behind the arc. Teammate Sara Stutz also averages 13.0 ppg while Melissa Miller leads NU on the boards with 7.5 rebounds per game.
Pre-season Picks
Northwestern was picked to finish 11th in both the Big Ten preseason media and coaches poll released in August. A year ago, the Wildcats earned conference wins over Michigan and Wisconsin to finish 2-14 in Big Ten play. NU finished 10th in the conference, ahead of Michigan.
Head Coach Beth Combs
Northwestern head coach Beth Combs in now in her third year in Evanston. Under Combs' tutelage, the Wildcats have had two All-Big Ten honorable mention selections and seven Academic All-Big Ten members.
Prior to taking over at Northwestern, the two-time Patriot League coach of the year led Colgate to its first-ever Patriot League Tournament Championship and a berth into the NCAA Tournament in 2003-04. A native of Decatur, Ill., Combs played her college ball at Illinois and earned her degree in 1992.
The Series
Northwestern leads the all-time series with Wisconsin 28-23. In Madison, the Wildcats have a slight 13-12 advantage. Last season, the two teams split its games. The Badgers earned a 74-45 win in Madison before Northwestern returned the favor a month later, 58-56.
