MADISON, Wis. — The Wisconsin women's basketball team returns to the Kohl Center after more than two weeks away from home to face off against Northern Illinois on Wednesday, Nov. 29. Tip off will be at 6:30 p.m. and the game can be streamed on B1G+ or listened to on 1070 WTSO-AM.
Here are five things to know before the Badgers matchup against the Huskies.
1. JIMENEZ'S HOMECOMING GAME: Cape Coral, Fla. native, D'Yanis Jimenez, returned to her home state for the Fort Myers Tip Off, and put up career-numbers against Arkansas in game one of the tournament on Friday, Nov. 25. The freshman notched a career-high 17 points, and shot 60% from field goal range (6-10) and was a perfect 2-2 from behind the three-point arc. Jimenez also contributed four rebounds, two assists and one steal against the Razorbacks. After five-career contests, Jimenez is averaging 10.6 points per game, and shooting 50.0% from three.
2. SUPERB BADGER SHOOTING: Wisconsin put on its best offensive performance of the 2023-24 season thus far in its game against Boston College in Fort Myers on Saturday, Nov. 26. The Badgers' field-goal percentage of 53.6%, three-point percentage of 45.5% and free-throw percentage of 92.3% were all team-highs, and helped propel UW to an 82-72 victory. For just the second time this season, four players scored in double-digits, which included Sania Copeland, Serah Williams, Natalie Leuzinger and Brooke Schramek.
3. 18 POINTS FOR SANIA: Just one game after scoring a career-high 11 points against Arkansas, Sania Copeland followed up that performance with a career-high of 18 points against Boston College. In 36 minutes of play, the sophomore logged career-bests in field-goals made (6), three-point field goals (4) and tied her career-high in steals with two. Copeland shot 40% from three and was a significant factor in the Badgers' dominant win over the Eagles.
4. WILLIAMS' DEFENSIVE PROWESS: Serah Williams, the 2022-23 Big Ten leader in blocks with 58, displayed her defensive dominance on Saturday against the Eagles. Williams ended with a career-high five blocks, bringing her season total up to 16 after just six games. With an average of 2.7 blocks per game, Williams ranks second in the Big Ten Conference.
5. SCOUTING THE HUSKIES: Wisconsin will play Northern Illinois for the third time in program history, and for the first time since Dec. 16, 2015. In the teams' last meeting, the Badgers won 89-62, and took the lead on the series, 2-1. This season, Northern Illinois is 3-3 to start, and its last game was a 67-62 win over Indiana State on Saturday, Nov. 25. NIU is led by senior Jayden Marable, who averages 13.7 points and 4.5 rebounds per game.
