After a month off, the No. 1 Wisconsin women's hockey team resumes action with a non-conference series at Lindenwood this weekend. Faceoff on Friday at the Lindenwood Ice Arena is set for 7 p.m., while Saturday's contest begins at 3 p.m. 

Number of the Week
20 – The Badgers have been on fire in their last three games, scoring 20 goals while giving up only a pair of goals. UW now leads the NCAA in scoring offense, averaging 3.89 goals per game. 

About LIndenwood
Lindenwood is 4-12-2 this season as the Lady Lions are coming off of an impressive 4-1 win over No. 10 North Dakota in its last game of 2016.

Lindenwood capped off the 2015-16 season going 9-24-4 overall, with a 5-11-4 ledger in College Hockey American play.

Freshman Cierra Paisley leads the Lady Lions in scoring so far this season, tallying nine points from two goals and seven assists.

Sophomore Jolene deBruyn steps into the crease for LU, appearing in 15 games and earning a 3-9-2 overall record. deBruyn has a 2.38 goal average with a .921 save percentage.

Clark named WCHA Offensive Player of the Month
Emily Clark dominated December, scoring eight points off a goal and seven assists.

For her tremendous efforts, the Wisconsin women's hockey junior was named WCHA Offensive Player of the Month, the league announced Thursday.

It is Clark's first time being named the WCHA Offensive Player of the Month and the second time this year she has been honored by the league, being named the WCHA Offensive Player of the Week on Dec. 13.

After recording an assist in UW's historic 8-2 win over Minnesota on Dec. 4, Clark had a breakout weekend against the Buckeyes, scoring seven points. She had a career-high five points in UW's 7-0 win at Ohio State on Dec. 9, collecting a goal and four assists. Clark continued her hot streak into UW's 5-0 win on Dec. 10, earning a pair of assists. 

Clark earned a +7 plus/minus rating for December, tied for the league lead. Her 46 faceoff wins in four games ranked third in the conference.
 

Wisconsin to host "Fill the Bowl" on Jan. 14
The Wisconsin women's hockey program will host its fifth "Fill the Bowl" game in the Kohl Center on Jan. 14. 

This year's "Fill the Bowl" contest against St. Cloud State marks UW's first "Fill the Bowl" since the 2013-14 season when the Badgers broke the NCAA women's hockey single-game attendance record with a crowd of 13,573 fans. 

Tickets for this year's game will be $1 and fans are encouraged to bring a non-perishable food item to donate to the Community Action Coalition. 

Fans are encouraged to buy tickets before the game to avoid waiting in line on game day. 

The Badgers are 3-1 in their previous four "Fill the Bowl" games, including a 4-0 win over St. Cloud State in the inaugural event during the 2007-08 season when UW had 5,377 fans in attendance. 

In Kohl Center contests, the Badgers are an impressive 135-26-13 and have won 30 of their last 35 games in the Kohl Center.

Ten Badgers appear in U.S./Canada series 
Current Wisconsin women's hockey players Annie Pankowski, Ann-Renée Desbiens and Emily Clark, former Badgers Brianna Decker, Meghan Duggan, Hilary Knight, Meaghan Mikkelson, Alex Rigsby and Blayre Turnbull, and future Badger Sophie Shirley, all played in a two-game series between U.S. and Canada in December.

Knight had four points during the series, which Canada swept, while Knight and Decker each tallied a pair of goals to lead the U.S.

The first game of the series saw a battle of UW netminders in Desbiens and Rigsby. Desbiens started the game before leaving in the middle of the first while Rigsby stopped 18 of the 22 shots she faced in a 5-3 loss to the Canadians.

Duggan captained the U.S. squad, a role that she has served for USA Hockey at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi.

UW to host outdoor skate on Sunday
The Wisconsin athletic department in partnership with Madison Parks will host its sixth-annual Wisconsin women's hockey outdoor team skate from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. on Sunday, Jan. 8, 2017 at Vilas Park.
 
Fans are invited to skate and receive autographs from the Wisconsin women's hockey team. Admission is free and all ages are welcome to attend. Skate rentals and concessions are available for a fee from the warming shelter through Madison Parks.

Note of the Week
The Wisconsin women's hockey program and head coach Mark Johnson announced the signing of eight student-athletes for the 2017-18 season.

Joining the Badgers next fall are forwards Delaney Drake (Traverse, Mich.), Kyleigh Hanzlik (Wisconsin Rapids, Wis), Brette Pettet (Kentville, Nova Scotia), Maddie Posick (Madison, Wis.), Caitlin Schneider (Glenview, Ill.) and Sophie Shirley (Saskatoon, Saskatchewan) and defensemen Grace Bowlby (Edina, Minn.) and Natalie Buchbinder (Fairport, N.Y.).  

"If you look at the class as a whole, they're all good students and have a lot of skill," Johnson said. "This is good because we're going to need them to step in and play since we're going to lose five seniors and we could lose a couple other kids to centralization. So they're all going to have to come in and make a contribution next year, but I think they're well-equipped to do that because we're real excited with what they all bring to us and to watch them grow and develop.

"A lot of them know each other and know some of the younger players on our team right now, so the transition from going to their respective high schools to college is going to be easier because they know people here. It will be fun to work with because next year's team is going to be a lot of sophomores and freshmen. But it's an opportunity to grow together as the following year when we bring a couple of kids back, and our younger players are older, it'll be a pretty good team."

Learn more here.

In the News:

• UWBadgers.Com – Midpoint Metrics: Top-ranked Badgers earn tough wins despite challenging first half
• Daily Cardinal – No. 1 Wisconsin sweeps Ohio State with ease
• Daily Cardinal – Top Athletes from the Fall Semester
• UWBadgers.Com – In school, hockey, Pankowski puts her head down and gets to work
• WCHA.Com - Building Leaders and Champions: Sharon Cole Faust

Hitting the Mark:
Wisconsin head coach Mark Johnson became the first coach in WCHA history to record 400 career wins in the Badgers sweep of Clarkson. Johnson is only the third coach in NCAA Division I women's hockey history to collect 400 career triumphs.