ANN ARBOR, Mich. — The Wisconsin women's basketball team (8-7, 1-4 B1G) heads to over to Ann Arbor to face Michigan (11-5, 2-2 B1G) on Saturday, Jan. 13, inside the Crisler Center. Tip off is at 2 p.m., with the game streaming on B1G+ and 1070 WTSO-AM on the radio.
Here are five things to know before the Badgers matchup against the Wolverines.
1. SERAH'S 100 BLOCKS: Serah Williams led the Big Ten Conference last season in blocks, averaging 1.9 per game and totaling 58, but she is on track to crush this stat in her sophomore year. After contributing a conference-leading 43 blocks in just 13 games, Williams has totaled 100 in her young career. With an average of 3.3 per game, Williams ranks fourth in the country and has proven to be a consistent formidable force on the defensive end.
2. FRESHMAN FORCE: Wisconsin played without Brooke Schramek and saw limited action from D'Yanis Jimenez in its game against Northwestern on Wednesday, but Tessa Grady stepped up to the plate and delivered a spectacular offensive performance. The freshman dropped a career-high 15 points, including three triples. Grady invigorated the Badger offense and served as a real spark from the bench to help compensate for the lack of two injury-ridden starters. The Dublin, Ohio native is a sharp shooter, and is second on the team with a 41.7% three-point percentage.
3. DOUGLASS FINDING HER FOOTING: Halle Douglass has played eight games with the Badgers thus far after recovering from her ACL tear in November of 2022; starting the last three games in place of Schramek. The senior, who is still finding her rhythm back on the court, delivered her strongest showing of the 2023-24 season so far when she dropped a season-high nine points (3-5 FG, 1-2 3FG, 2-4 FT) to accompany her four rebounds, four assists and two steals.
4. PORTER'S POWERFUL PRESENCE: Standing at just 5-foot-4 and coming in as one of the shortest players in the Big Ten, Ronnie Porter has made a name for herself as one of the most tenacious players in the conference. Porter is seventh in the conference in rebounding, with an average of 7.5 per game, and is tallying 2.1 offensive rebounds. Her no-quit mentality drives her to jump above other players and fight for the rebound on every single play, offense or defense.
5. SCOUTING THE WOLVERINES: Wisconsin and Michigan last played one another Feb. 26, 2023. The Badgers pulled off an astounding 78-70 senior night victory over the No. 12 ranked Wolverines. This season, the Wolverines are 11-5 overall and 2-2 in the Big Ten, and have been receiving votes in the polls. The leading scorer for Michigan is junior Laila Phelia, who averages 15.7 points per game to go along with 3.4 rebounds. Named to the All-Big Ten second team as a sophomore and earning Preseason All-Big Ten honors to begin this season, the Cincinnati, Ohio is certainly a player the Badgers will have to prepare for.
