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MADISON, Wis. — The Wisconsin women's basketball team returns to action for the first time in the 2023-24 season to face UW-Whitewater in an exhibition game Sunday, Oct. 29. Tip time is 1 p.m. from the Kohl Center and the game can be watched live on B1G+.
Here are five things to know before the Badgers matchup against UW-Whitewater:
1. SERAH'S SECOND SEASON: After a dominant first season that concluded with Big Ten All-Freshman Team honors, Serah Williams is back for her second year. As a rookie, Williams led the Badgers and tied for first in the Big Ten with 58 total blocks, with an average of 1.9 blocks per game. Williams also led UW in blocks in 25 games last season. The 6-foot-4 forward was a leader in scoring in the Big Ten, ranking 20th in field-goals made (157), 24th in points (395) and 25th in average points per game (12.7). With just 31 games under her belt, Williams is five points away from 400 career points, and 33 rebounds away from tallying 200 in her career. Â
2. FIVE FRESH FACES: Wisconsin welcomes five freshmen to their roster for the 2023-24 season. The signees include Leena Patibandla, a 6-foot guard from Canton, Ohio; Ana Guillen, a 6-foot forward from Badalona, Spain; Tessa Grady, a 6-foot-2 forward from Dublin, Ohio; D'Yanis Jimenez, a 5-foot-8 guard from Cape Coral, Florida; and Imbie Jones, a 6-foot-2 forward from Seattle, Washington. With a total of 10 underclassmen, Wisconsin ties Minnesota for the most on a roster in the Big Ten.Â
3. ADDING ASSISTANT COACHES: Coach Moseley added three new assistant coaches to her staff in the offseason, providing the Badgers with new perspectives and years of experience. Margaret McKeon, who owns over two decades of collegiate coaching experience, joined the Wisconsin women's basketball program in May, 2023. Head coach Marisa Moseley played for McKeon while she was the head coach at Boston University, and the duo aided the Terriers to the school's lone NCAA Tournament appearance in 2003.Tiffany Morton comes to the Badgers after most recently spending the 2021-22 season at Rice, where she recruited and signed the No. 1 recruiting class in Conference USA. Morton played collegiately at Wisconsin-Whitewater, and helped the Warhawks to the 2008 DIII Final Four. Jaime Gluesing was the final piece added, and she joins the staff after serving as an assistant coach at High Point University. Gluesing previously played at Florida Golf Coast University from 2012-16 where her team qualified for postseason play in all four of her seasons, and played in the NCAA Tournament twice and the 2016 WNIT Championship game her senior year.
4. 50 SEASONS STRONG: The 2023-24 season marks the 50th for the Wisconsin women's basketball team. Throughout the years, the team has clinched seven NCAA Tournament appearances, won the 2000 NIT, amassed 10 First-Team All-B1G honorees, six ABL/WNBA draft picks, nine Hall of Famers and 28 1,000 point scorers.
5. SCOUTING THE WARHAWKS: The Badgers and Warhawks will face off in an exhibition match that will mark each team's first official match of the season. The two teams will play one another for just the second time in program history, and this will mark their first meeting since Nov. 3, 2011. In their lone matchup against the Warhawks, the Badgers emerged victorious, winning by a score of 70-54. UWW has have finished first in the WIAC in three of the last four seasons, and concluded the 2022-23 season with a 23-7 overall record and 10-4 conference record.
