UWBadgers.com is looking back at Wisconsin Athletics' 1999-2000 season. Follow along throughout this year as we revisit this unheralded dream season for the Badgers.
BY ANDY BAGGOT
UWBadgers.com Insider
MADISON, Wis. — It's said that beauty is in the eye of the beholder. So, too, apparently is aging.
When members of the 1999-2000 Wisconsin women's basketball team gathered recently in Madison to celebrate the program's singular championship moment, some divergent impressions came to life.
Who changed the most?
"I don't feel like anybody changed at all," said Jessie Stomski, one of the most decorated, accomplished players in program history. "We look a little older, but it's weird. Stepping back in time, it felt the same.
"Nobody really stands out as changing all that much. I was more struck by how everything feels the same."
Even the Kohl Center, where the Badgers first began playing in 1998, "still looks like a very modern, new building," Stomski said.
That's where 11 former players, coaches and support staffers from 20 years ago came together to reminisce about the time Wisconsin reigned as Women's National Invitational Tournament champion.
But another standout from that squad, LaTonya Sims, had a completely different thought on who changed the most.
"We all have," she said, explaining how being immersed in sports "teaches you the concept of change and I think we've all changed a little bit to a lot in our own ways."
Former women's basketball head coach Jane Albright waves at the crowd during the 20th Anniversary Reunion of the WNIT Championship team.
The 1999-2000 season was arguably the best in the history of Wisconsin Athletics and women's basketball did its part.
A season after losing in the WNIT finals and a season before a return to the NCAA tournament for the first time since 1997-98, the Badgers pieced together a memorable story.
They finished 21-12 overall — seven of those losses came to teams ranked in the Associated Press' top 20 — closing with five straight victories in the WNIT.
A year after enduring a three-point loss to Arkansas in the WNIT final, Wisconsin won the title with a 75-74 triumph over Florida before a crowd of 13,006 at the Kohl Center.
The WNIT championship fit nicely on the school's mantle that season, joining the NCAA Final Four berth in men's basketball, a Big Ten Conference title and Rose Bowl victory in football, a runner-up NCAA finish for men's cross country, and a Western Collegiate Hockey Association crown in men's hockey to name a few.
Sims, now a software consultant based out of Racine, Wisconsin, thanked the National W Club for organizing the reunion, which coincided with a Big Ten matinee with Nebraska at the Kohl Center. The Badgers fell 72-71.
Among the returnees was Jane Albright, who coached at Wisconsin from 1994 to 2003 and built the program into a drawing card. It ranked in the top 10 nationally and led the Big Ten in attendance four consecutive seasons. The 1999-2000 squad drew an average of 7,732 per home game.
"I think now in hindsight we can all look back and see the incredible impact she had on the Wisconsin women's basketball program," Stomski said of Albright, who was not retained after her only losing season in 2002-03.
Albright subsequently coached at Wichita State and Nevada before retiring as a coach in 2017.
Sims said Albright kept referencing the Badger family concept at the reunion.
"It really is a family, especially at the University of Wisconsin," Sims said. "I'm sure other colleges are like that, but Jane really did create a really good familial atmosphere for us."
A highlight for Sims, a forward who led the 1999-2000 club in scoring and rebounding, was seeing fans of the day travel from outside the state to join in the get-together.
"It was great seeing who was cheering for us," she said. "To have that following was amazing."
Talent was in abundance for the Badgers in 1999-2000. Sims, Stomski, center Nina Smith and guard Tamara Moore were prep All-Americans. Those four, along with guard Kelley Paulus, averaged in double-figures in points.
Sims and Stomski were Big Ten Freshmen of the Year who were later named first-team all-league. Moore was a first-round WNBA draft pick who finished as the program's career leader in assist and steals.
"I think we had all the pieces," Sims said. "We went out there and played hard every game. It just wasn't in the cards for us to get to the NCAA tournament."
Stomski, a lawyer based in Minneapolis, said the reunion was her first visit to the Kohl Center since her final collegiate game in February of 2002. She said a highlight was having her two young daughters, Sloan and Sasha, take part.
"That, to them, was very meaningful," Stomski said.
