| BIG TEN RETURNING
The Big Ten returns 70 percent (23-of-33) of coaches' All-Big Ten first and second team or honorable mention honorees. Seven of 11 All-Big Ten first-team members return including Wisconsin's Michala Johnson.
For the fourth consecutive season, the Big Ten had at least five teams competing in the NCAA Tournament. The conference also had four WNIT participants last season.
SCORING, REBOUNDING RETURN
Wisconsin returns 11 letterwinners and three starters from last season. The Badgers also return 2012-13 starter Cassie Rochel, who redshirted last season due to a back injury.
UW returns 61.6 percent of its scoring, bringing back its leading scorer in senior Michala Johnson. The 6-3 forward averaged 16.6 points per game last season. She is also the top returning rebounder with 7.3 rebounds per game.
The Badgers also return three of its top-six scorers from last season in senior Jacki Gulczynski (7.9), junior Dakota Whyte (6.2) and junior Nicole Bauman (6.2).
Wisconsin also returning nearly 70 percent of its rebounding as Gulczynski added 6.7 boards per game last season.
 | Game Notes
Complete women's basketball game notes in printable PDF form | | CAYLA MCBUCKETS
Freshman Cayla McMorris had her first career start at Drake where she put up a career high 16 points.
Against Illinois State, McMorris scored 12 points on 5-of-10 shooting, including 2-of-2 from 3-point range, and grabbed four rebounds. She also added one assist and one block in 23 minutes of play.
McMorris had 11 points on 4-of-9 (.444) shooting against Vanderbilt. She was 2-of-5 from behind the arc while going 1-of-2 from the free throw line for her first shots from the charity stripe. The 6-0 guard also had three rebounds in 18 minutes of play.
She is averaging 8.8 points per game while shooting 45.9 percent. McMorris is the Badgers' top 3-point shooter, hitting 6-of-11 from deep. She also is second in the Big Ten with her 3-point field goal percentage. BAUMAN'S BACK
In her returning games against South Carolina and East Carolina, junior Nicole Bauman put up 19 points in both games combined and dished out two assists. The 5-11 guard went 3-of-5 from beyond the arc against East Carolina and 5-of-13 from the field.
POOR SECOND HALVES DOOM BADGERS
UW led twice against No.1 South Carolina and tied with the top-ranked Gamecocks four times in the first but were eventually outscored 36-26 in the second half after only shooting 26.9 percent from the field and 25.0 percent from 3-point range. The Badgers led by 17 points with 11:45 to play in the first half and led 41-34 at the half but dropped a 67-58 decision to Vanderbilt on Thursday.
Wisconsin was outscored 33-17 and committed 11 of its 18 turnovers in the second half. UW led 48-41 with 15:31 to play before the Commodores went on a 15-0 run to take a 56-48 lead with 8:20 to go. The Badgers would get no closer than five for the rest of the game. THREE SCORERS IN DOUBLE DIGITS
For the first three games, UW had at least three players score in double figures.
At Drake, senior Michala Johnson paved the way for UW with 17 points followed by freshman Cayla McMorris who logged 16 points and senior Jack Gulczynski who posted 15 points. Junior Dakota Whyte became the fourth player of the game to hit double digits with 10 points.
Against Illinois State, Johnson led the Badgers with 16 points while junior Nicole Bauman added 14 points McMorris put up 12 points. Johnson led Wisconsin with 16 points vs. Vanderbilt while McMorris and Gulczynski both chipped in 11 points.
Johnson leads the team with 16.5 points per game. Bauman adds 14 points peer game while McMorris chips in 11.5 points per game. OFFENSIVE STRUGGLES
Wisconsin has struggled on offense and averages 15.8 turnovers per game. The Badgers had a season-high 23 turnovers when facing East Carolina. Twenty-three of East Carolina's field goals were off of Badger turnovers. Against the Commodores and without Bauman, the Badgers turned the ball over 18 times, including 11 times in the second half, compared to just eight in its season opener against Illinois State. Assists also dropped from 19 to 14.
The Badgers shot just 28.3 percent (13-of-46) against No. 1 South Carolina and 340 percent vs. East Carolina. WE LIKE IT IN THE PAINT
UW put up 22 shots from inside the paint against East Carolina. The Badgers had 44 shots from the paint against Drake while the Bulldogs only took 32 shots from inside the paint.
The Badgers also took 14 fastbreak layups compared to only four from Drake.
HANDING OFF DIMES
The Badgers are averaging 15.0 assists per game this season after dishing off just 12.2 assists per game in 2013-14. Junior Nicole Bauman is averaging 3.7 assists per game while Dakota Whyte adds 4.0 assists per game. Whyte tied her career high with six dimes twice against Drake and Vanderbilt. Michala Johnson also tied her career best with three assists against the Commodores.
Bauman had the one game with nine assists while Whyte averages 4.5 assists per game. Johnson adds 2.5 dimes per game.
REBOUNDS DROP
UW's rebounds also dropped from the first game to the next two. The Badgers had 44 against Illinois State and only 28 against Vanderbilt and went even lower to 24 at Drake.
The Badgers are averaging 32.2 rebounds per game in the first five games compared to their opponents' 37.8 boards. SENIORS PUT UP WALLS
Seniors Michala Johnson, Cassie Rochel and Jacki Gulczynski lead the Badgers in blocks. Johnson notched a career high of four blocks at Drake.
Gulczynski has already posted five blocks this season after averaging 1.4 blocks per game last year.
Senior Cassie Rochel picked up right where she left off. After redshirting last season due to a back injury, the 6-4 post had four blocks against Illinois State last Sunday. She also added one block against Vanderbilt and one against East Carolina.
Rochel ranks fourth with 119 career blocks at UW. She also ranks third with 1.40 blocks per game over her career.
This season, Rochel is averaging 8.0 points and 4.5 rebounds per game.
JOHNSON HITS FROM THE FIELD
Senior Michala Johnson leads the Badgers with 16.7 points per game while shooting 58.8 percent from the field. As a junior, the 6-3 forward led the team with 16.6 points per game while shooting 55.1 percent.
Johnson has really turned up her percentage from the line, shooting 83.3 percent (10-of-12) after hitting 60.7 percent last season.
BENCH SCORES BIG POINTS
Wisconsin's bench contributed 24 of the team's total 71 points against Illinois State on Nov. 16.
Freshman Cayla McMorris led the reserves with 12 points while Tessa Cichy added eight points.
With Cichy starting for the injured Nicole Bauman against Vanderbilt, the Badgers had just 15 points off the bench with 11 coming from McMorris.
At Drake, Wisconsin had 20 points come from off the bench. THE OTHER JOHNSON IMPROVES
Sophomore Malayna Johnson has really improved from her freshman season, upping her minutes, scoring and rebounding.
The 6-4 post has upped her minutes from 7.2 per game to 15.2 per game. Johnson's scoring has went from 0.8 points per game to 2.8 points per game this season. Her rebounding has also increased from 1.5 boards per game to 2.2 per game.
Johnson had two steals against Vanderbilt, which was a career high and tied her 2013-14 season total.
KELSEY UNDEFEATED IN SEASON OPENERS
Fourth-year head coach Bobbie Kelsey is now 4-0 in season openers at UW with a 71-60 win over Illinois State last Sunday.
The Badgers move to 25-16 all-time in openers, including an 13-4 mark at home.
TOUGH SCHEDULE IN 2014-15
Vanderbilt, which receives votes in this week's Associated Press poll, is the first of seven non-conference opponents that competed in the postseason in 2014.
After Drake, Wisconsin heads to the Bahamas for the Junkanoo Jam where it faces NCAA Sweet 16 participant and second-ranked South Carolina (29-5) in the opening round. WNIT participant East Carolina (22-9) and NCAA second-round qualifier Syracuse (23-10) also compete in the tournament.
The Badgers play 18 Big Ten games this season as the league schedule has increased by two games. The conference schedule is highlighted by match ups against new conference opponents Rutgers, the 2014 WNIT Champions and Maryland, a 2014 NCAA Final Four participant.
In 2014, the Big Ten sent six teams to the NCAA tournament for the second straight year and for the sixth time in conference history, while two teams participated in the WNIT.
SCORING AND REBOUND RETURN
Wisconsin returns 11 letterwinners and three starters from last season. The Badgers also return 2012-13 starter Cassie Rochel, who redshirted last season due to a back injury.
UW returns 61.6 percent of its scoring, bringing back its leading scorer in senior Michala Johnson. The 6-3 forward averaged 16.6 points per game last season. She is also the top returning rebounder with 7.3 rebounds per game.
The Badgers also return three more of their top-six scorers from last season in senior Jacki Gulczynski (7.9), junior Dakota Whyte (6.2) and junior Nicole Bauman (6.2).
Wisconsin also returns nearly 70 percent of its rebounding as Gulczynski added 6.7 boards per game last season.
BADGERS ON BTN
Four of the Badgers' regular season contests are set to air on the Big Ten Network. All four of Wisconsin's BTN appearances are set to be aired from the Kohl Center on Dec. 28 (Michigan), Jan. 6 (Penn State), Jan. 29 (Ohio State) and Feb. 19 (Maryland).
In addition, Wisconsin's Dec. 10 game at Florida will be featured on the SEC Network.
CAPTAINS ELECTED
Seniors Michala Johnson, Jacki Gulczynski and Cassie Rochel have been named captains.
Johnson and Rochel served in the same role the previous season. Rochel is back on the court after missing the 2013-14 season due to injury.
FOUR NEWCOMERS JOIN TEAM
Wisconsin adds four newcomers in 2014-15, including Cayla McMorris, the first top-100 recruit signed by Coach Bobbie Kelsey. The Badgers also add junior Rosie Gambino, a transfer from Iowa State, Avyanna Young, a transfer from Milwaukee, and freshman Roichelle Marble.
Gambino will eligible to play second semester of this season while Young will miss the entire year due to NCAA transfer rules. Marble tore her Achilles tendon this summer and will take a medical redshirt. CAREER SEASONS
Several Badgers had the best seasons of their careers in at least one statistical category in 2013-14. - Nicole Bauman shot a season best 39.3 percent (57-145) from the field and hit a season-best 38.8 percent (38-98) from 3-point range. Bauman also surpassed her freshman year total with 66 assists.
- AnnMarie Brown shot a season best 38.9 percent (7-18) from 3-point range. She also tied her season best with eight assists and upped her season best to four blocks.
- Tessa Cichy hit a season-best 50 percent from 3-point range (9-18) and 90 percent (9-10) from the free throw line. She also set a season high with seven steals.
- Jacki Gulczynski shot a season-best 36.6 percent (34-93) from 3-point range. She also surpassed her sophomore season total with 41 blocks this year while averaging a season-best 6.7 rebounds per game (195 total).
- Junior transfer Michala Johnson averaged season bests in nearly every category. She averaged bests of 16.6 points and 7.3 rebounds per game. The 6-3 post also shot season bests from the field (.551) and line (.607) while recording season bests in assists (36), blocks (27) and steals (15).
- Sophomore Dakota Whyte averaged season bests of 6.2 points and 2.6 rebounds per game. The 5-8 guard also shot a season-best 43.2 percent (76-176) from the field while recording season bests of 2.2 assists and 0.9 steals per game.
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