Women's Basketball Hosts UW-Green Bay
December 11, 2007 | Women's Basketball
Wisconsin (5-3) welcomes UW-Green Bay (4-2) Tuesday at 7 p.m. in the Kohl Center in the last of the in-state rivalry games this season. The game will be televised nationally on the Big Ten Network with former local sports anchor Jay Wilson and Purdue All-American Stephanie White. It may also be heard locally on WIBA AM 1310 with Mike Heller, and on the Internet at Yahoo.com.
UW has faced all three other D-1 teams in the same year only once since 2000. The Badgers are 1-1 in state contests with a loss at Marquette, and a win at home over UW-Milwaukee. Tickets for the game ar $7 for adults, $3 for students and seniors, and may be purchased at the door or on uwbadgers.com.
UW hosts South Dakota State on Friday at 7 p.m. to close out the non-conference season. After finals and the holiday break, the Badgers begin the Big Ten season on the road at Purdue Dec. 28, then at Illinois Dec. 30. UW is home to host MSU on Jan. 2
UW's three-game win streak can partially be attributed to improved post production. Wisconsin has outscored its opponent in points in the paint by an average of 34.0 to 22.7. UW had a season high with 50 points in the paint vs. UW-Milwaukee Dec. 4. Senior Danielle Ward had a season high 14 points vs. Air Force and is averaging an improfed 6.6 points per game. Freshman post player Tara Steinbauer, who leads the Big Ten in field goal shooting at 68.8 percent, is averaging 8.0 points per game.
Jolene Anderson's consecutive double-figure scoring mark now stands at 37. She also scored double figures in 35 straight games between 2005-07. The record is 45-straight held by LaTonya Sims (1997-2000). Anderson has scored in double figures in 97 of 101 career games. She needs just 110 points to tie UW's career record of 1,994 set by Barb Franke in 1996.
Coach Lisa Stone
Head coach Lisa Stone is in her fifth season at Wisconsin with a 61-67 (.476) school record. In her 23rd season of coaching, Stone is 436-185 overall (.703 winning percentage). She achieved career victory No. 400 with a win over Idaho State on Nov. 25, 2005, and ranks 22nd in all-time career win percentage among active Division I coaches at the beginning of the 2007-08 season.
UW'S LAST TIME OUT
GAME 8: UW 74, Air Force 60
The Falcons stayed even with Wisconsin in the first half matching UW on the boards (18-16) and not allowing UW to pull away until the last two minutes to lead 43-33. The Badgers tightened up the defense in the second half and forced 20 turnovers (12 in the second stanza) while collecting a season-high 12 steals. UW shot a seaon-high of 69.2 percent from the arc (9-13). Four Badgers scored in double figures led by Danielle Ward with a season-high 14 points. Ward tied her career-high with five steals.
UW-Green Bay Scouting Report
In-state rival UW-Green Bay enters the Kohl Center Tuesday night with a 4-2 overall record. UW-GBs two losses came against Illinois State early in the season. and Marquette on Dec. 1. After opening its season with a 12-point road victory over Drake, Green Bay also defeated Missouri State in opponent territory before returning home to top Northern Illinois and Kansas State. Four players are averaging double figures six games into the season. Senior Kayla Groh leads all scorers with 88 points, averaging 14.7 ppg. Close behind stands Rachel Porath with 82 points, averaging 13.7 ppg. The junior is shooting 52.5 percent (31-59) from the field. Juniors Kati Harty and Lavesa Glover have each contributed 64 points this season, averaging 10.7 ppg.
Last Time Out
After losing at home to Marquette, 60-48, for the first time in over a year, the Phoenix rebounded with a 68-56 victory over Kansas State on Dec. 5. Senior Kayla Groh led all scorers with 19 points, making 4-of-5 from 3-point range. Kati Harty added 12 points, while starters Rachel Porath and Erin Templin also reached double figures with 11 and 10 points, respectively. Green Bay took an early 16-4 lead and led by 13 points at the break. Kansas State closed to within two points, 53-51, in the second half. However, in the next 5:30, the Phoenix went on an 11-1 run, which sealed the contest for Green Bay.
Head Coach Matt Bollant
Matt Bollant enters his first season at UW-Green Bay. Bollant is just the third head coach in the team's 34-year history. Prior to arriving in Green Bay, Bollant spent five seasons at the helm of Bryan College's (Tenn.) women's basketball team.Under Bollant's direction, the Lady Lions posted a 134-38 record (.779 winning percentage) at the NAIA level and made four straight NAIA national tournament appearances over the last four seasons. Bollant got his coaching start at Tigerton (Wis.) High School, where he served as the head coach and led the Tigers to an impressive 63-10 record over three years, including a 22-1 mark during the 1996-97 campaign. A 1994 graduate of Winona State University with a degree in business education, Bollant also has a master 's degree in education from American Intercontinental University.
Preseason Kudos
Junior Rachel Porath was selected to the Horizon League preseason first team the league announced in October. The guard returns as the team's top scorer, avearaging 9.4 points per game in 2006-07. The Luxemburg, Wis., native averaged 53.5 percent from the field and 43.8 percent from beyond the arc. UW-Green Bay was picked to finish second in the 2007-08 Horizon League race, despite coming off its best season record-wise in 2006-07. UW-Milwaukee was selected ahead of the Phoenix.
The Series
Wisconsin leads the series with UW-Green Bay 17-6, but the Phoenix have three of the past five games including a 70-66 win at Green Bay last season. Jolene Anderson scored 21 points and added 13 rebounds but were down by 23 midway through the second half. The Badgers held the Phoenix without a field goal for the last 10 minutes, but were not able to make up enough ground for the win coming within three with 27 seconds left. Janese Banks tied her career-high in steals with five and added 20 points in the effort. Nicole Soulis led four Phoenix in double-figures with 17.
