BY KELLI GRASHEL
UW Athletic Communications

MADISON, Wis. — The Badgers have experienced some highs and lows in the last week but won't have time to dwell on them as they stay the course in a busy week.
Busy is no exaggeration. Wisconsin is on a stretch of playing five games in a matter of only 10 days.

Dubbed as an "NBA-like schedule" by head coach Jonathan Tsipis, Wisconsin is in the midst of a three-game homestand after splitting the last two matches — a home 59-72 loss to North Carolina Thursday and a road win Sunday against Illinois State, 64-46. The Badgers now wrap up the first half of the season in dramatic fashion, facing off with two highly competitive in-state rivals.

Wisconsin concludes its tough home stretch with Marquette this Sunday at 1 p.m., then dives right into preparation for a road trip to play northern foe Green Bay on Thursday at 7 p.m. at the Kress Center.

The two games against the Badgers' in-state competitors always bring a lot of physicality and a lot of competitiveness from both teams. For Coach Tsipis, this will be his first time facing off with two big UW rivals.

The Badgers narrowly lead the all-time series against both teams, holding a 14-9 edge on Marquette and a 19-13 advantage over Green Bay.

It's going to be an all-out battle for the contending teams after UW dropped both in-state contests last season, also marking two consecutive losses to Green Bay.

And battling through adversity is a trait that this year's squad has already grown accustomed to. Wisconsin suffered a tough 42-35 loss to Idaho State Tuesday night, only two days after handily
clinching their first road victory of the season against Illinois State.

"Understanding how to build upon what we did across the whole game on Sunday at Illinois State has to be carried over," Tsipis said. "I thought we had a good practice yesterday. I thought we were competitive. I thought we were aggressive offensively.

"We wanted Idaho State to hand us the game. We talked this whole season about getting better game to game, practice to practice. We took a step back tonight after getting a road win on Sunday. The only thing I know to do as a coach is get to the film and work with our team tomorrow and get their heads up and get us ready for Thursday."

The Badgers must first face Mississippi Valley State Thursday in the Kohl Center at 7 p.m. before continuing the tough stretch against their in-state foes. These final tests will be Wisconsin's last action of 2016 until the conference season starts up at home against Michigan on Jan. 1 at 2 p.m.

Earning a 2-2 record across the last four games, the Badgers are learning how to navigate bumps in the road and still finding success in certain facets of their play.

Wisconsin has its obvious strengths in senior Avyanna Young and junior Cayla McMorris (the team's leading rebounder and leading scorer), but now UW is looking to its bench to help carry more weight. Suzanne Gilreath has scored in double figures during two of the last three games, after previously only scoring one point. Marsha Howard has been a key contributor on the glass and in what she brings to the physical side of the game. Malayna Johnson came up big against Idaho State with some crucial baskets to keep the Badgers at pace with the Bengals.

With a schedule that would harshly test any team, the Badgers are fighting through this tough stretch and continuing to learn as they go.