Badgers Host Michigan State Wednesday
December 31, 2007 | Women's Basketball
The Badgers open the new year at home with Michigan State (9-5, 1-1) on Wednesday at 7 p.m. in the Kohl Center in a game televised tape-delayed at 11 p.m. on Wisconsin Public Television and video streamed live and FREE on uwbadgers.com. All single game tickets may be reserved in advance. Regular game tickets are $7 adults and $3 children 18 and under and seniors.
Wisconsin (7-5, 0-2) opened the Big Ten Conference slate on the road at Purdue Dec. 28 losing for the 10th straight time to the Boilermakers 65-48. UW suffered a second conference road loss at Illinois (10-3, 1-1), 64-54 in Champaign.
The Badgers finished the non-conference season with five-straight home victories and a 7-3 record before taking a 14-day break from games for finals and the holiday break.
UW recorded its 1st and third lowest scoring totals of the season at Purdue (1st-48) and Illinois (3rd-54), and dropped to fourth in Big Ten in scoring with 68.5 points per game. UW continues to lead the Big Ten in rebounding with 42.2 per game and offensive rebounds with 16.58 per game.
With Jolene Anderson's unusual six-point performance at Purdue Dec. 28, her consecutive double-figure scoring mark was stopped at 39. It was the second longest in school history and just six shy of the record. She also scored double figures in 35 straight games in 2005-06, and has scored in double figures in 100 of 105 career games. Anderson was leading the Big Ten in scoring for a second-straight season prior to Purdue and now ranks second with 18.0 points per game. She needs 64 points to tie the UW women 's career scoring record of 1,994 which was set by Barb Franke (1991-96).
Several players have achieved season-highs in the past three games. Teah Gant had a career-high with 11 points vs. SDSU while and Rae Lin D'Alie tied her high with 14 vs. Purdue. Senior Danielle Ward had a season-high 14 points vs. Air Force and her third career double-double with 13 points and 11 rebounds vs. Purdue. She has scored in double-figures in four of the past five games.
LAST TIME OUT
GAME 12: UW 54, Illlinois 64: Another poor shooting performance hitting just 32 percent for the game doomed the Badgers in Champaign losing 64-54 to the Illini for the second-straight Big Ten road loss. UW fell behind quickly in the first half trailing 33-25 at the break. Despite placing four players in double figures led by Janese Banks with 15, the Badgers didn't have enought offensive power to gain ground on Illinois. Jenna Smith led the Illini with 16.
COACH LISA STONE
Head coach Lisa Stone is in her fifth season at Wisconsin with a 63-69 (.477) school record. In her 23rd season of coaching, Stone is 438-187 overall (.701 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.
SCOUTING MICHIGAN STATE
The Spartans (9-5, 1-1) returned three starters and eight letterwinners from last year 's team that tied for the second-most wins in school history with 24. MSU finished third in the Big Ten with a 13-3 record and was 24-9 overall, advancing to the second round of the NCAA Tournament for the fourth straight season. Coach Joanne P. McCallie, who had taken the 2005 team to the Final Four, left in April to assume the coaching position at Duke University. Alyssa DeHaan leads the team in scoring and rebounding averaging 15.4 points and 7.7 rebounds per game. DeHaan is 85-of-159 from the field, averaging 53.5 percent. The 6-9 sophomore is the fastest player in NCAA and Big Ten history to 200 career blocks and is leading the nation with 4.9 per game. Kalisha Keane is the only other Spartan averaging double figures with 13.6 ppg, shooting 40.4 percent (59-of-146) from the field. Courtney Davidson comes off the bench to average 8.5 points per game.
Last Time Out
Then No. 23-ranked Michigan State closed out non-conference play with a 54-51 loss at Hartford on Dec. 22. Led by Danielle Hood's 19 points, the Hawks, now 10-2, upset the Spartans who dropped to 8-4. The Spartans opened the Big Ten Conference season at home losing 74-63 to Minnesota on Dec. 28. They upset No. 18 Ohio State, 60-53, on Dec. 30, to even their conference mark at 1-1.
Head Coach Suzy Merchant
Suzy Merchant enters her first season at MSU after spending the past nine years as the head coach at Eastern Michigan where she became the winningest coach in program history with a record of 147-91 (.618), including three 20-win seasons, three postseason appearances and two Mid-American Conference Western Division titles. Prior to arriving at EMU, Merchant coached for three years at Saginaw Valley State, recording a 54-29 record. The Traverse City, Mich., native was a four-year starter at Central Michigan from 1987-91, where she earned her bachelor's degree in health/fitness.
Preseason Kudos
In the Preseason USA Today/ESPN Coaches' Poll, Michigan State was picked No. 18. Michigan State was selected second by the media and fourth by the coaches in the preseason Big Ten poll release in October. Sophomore Allyssa DeHaan, the 2007 Big Ten Freshman of the Year, was named to both preseason first team All-Big Ten teams and was a unanimous choice by the coaches.
The Series
Michigan State and Wisconsin have met 53 times, with MSU leading the series 33-20. Last season the teams met just once on Dec. 31 where MSU won in East Lansing, Mich., 56-46. In Madison, UW leads the series 15-11.
LAST MEETING UW 46 at Michigan State 56:
Wisconsin was outrebounded for the first time all season (40-49) and shot just 30 percent from the field to lose 46-56 in the Big Ten road opener at No. 21 Michigan State. The Badger defense stymied MSU, which shot just 27.4 percent, but the Badgers couldn't capitalize recording its fewest points of the season. UW trailed 25-21 at the half, but missed 6-4 post player Danielle Ward who was injured just before the break. Ward finished with 10 points in 17 minutes. Jolene Anderson and Janese Banks had 12 each. MSU's 6-9 center Allyssa DeHaan led all scores with 14 points and added 13 rebounds.
