MADISON, Wis. – Wisconsin women's hockey senior Ann-Renée Desbiens moved one step closer to rewriting NCAA history books, matching the NCAA career shutout record in the Badgers' 5-0 victory over Bemidji State on Saturday afternoon at LaBahn Arena.

With her fifth blank slate of the season and the 43rd of her career, Desbiens needs only one more blank slate to pass Minnesota Noora Raty for sole possession of the NCAA career ice hockey shutout record, regardless of gender or division.

"It's kind of impressive," Desbiens said. "It not something I would have thought about when I got here four years ago. It's something I thought about the other day, it was not a goal I set for myself either, it just all turned out pretty good with the players I have in front of me and the system we have, it just makes my life easier back there and just being able to have those players in front of me every year has definitely been helping me." 

"We've talked about it numerous times," UW head coach Mark Johnson. "Last year was a real special year for her as an individual, she did things that I've never seen in the game of hockey from a goaltending standpoint. Again, I credit her for not living on her laurels this past summer and continuing to work. She's got bigger things ahead of her, and so she continues to work and continues to stay focused, she's got a bright future.

"I'm really excited for her and give her a lot of credit and I'm very proud of her."

Desbiens made 22 saves to help the top-ranked Badgers (10-0-1, 8-0-1-1 WCHA) earn their seventh-straight victory against the Beavers (4-6-1, 2-6-1-0 WCHA).
The La Malbaie, Quebec, native leads the NCAA in goals-against average (0.81) and is tied for the NCAA lead in victories (10) and shutouts (5).

Sophomore Mikaela Gardner and freshman Presley Norby each collected their first multi-goal games, while Alexis Mauermann collected her first career goal as a Badger.

"I think we just got better throughout the game," Norby said. "I thought we did come out with a lot of energy and a lot of excitement because we were back at home and just after a couple of passes we kept connecting and just got better and better."

UW opened its scoring midway through the first period as Gardner tallied her first goal of the season with a shot from the point that was redirected into the net after hitting a BSU skater's stick.

Norby notched her second goal of the season just four minutes into the second period after senior Sarah Nurse fed her the puck from the boards. With the assist, Nurse now has 98 career points and needs two more to become the 22nd player in school history to record 100 points in a career.

Three minutes later, Norby found the net on a rush after sophomore Maddie Rolfes found the freshman all alone in the offensive zone. Norby beat BSU netminder Brittni Mowat top-shelf to record her second goal and put the Badgers up 3-0 after two periods of action.  

With three goals and nine assists on the season, Norby ranks second on the team in scoring, trailing only Nurse.  

The Badgers kept up the pressure in the third, peppering BSU's Mowat with 15 shots. Gardner tallied her second of the game, knocking in a loose puck after Emily Clark's shot was initially stopped by Mowat.

Hungry for more, Mauermann collected her first career strike for the Cardinal and White, burying a rebound to put the Badgers up 5-0 late in the third.

Wisconsin outshot Bemidji State 39-22 and had a 31-14 advantage in shots on goal during the last 40 minutes of play in Madison.

The Badgers wrap up their WCHA series with Bemidji State on Sunday afternoon at 1 p.m. at LaBahn Arena.

"I think as I've told the team that if we start tomorrow's game the way we finished today's that bodes well for us," Johnson said. "Again it comes down to if we can get a few pucks in the net."