ANDY BAGGOT Insider Related Content Varsity Magazine

BY ANDY BAGGOT
UWBadgers.com Insider

MADISON, Wis. --Tessa Cichy has spent the last four years falling in love with every aspect of being a member of the Wisconsin women's basketball team, but if it all ended today she would leave Madison with a great sense of longing.

She has some notable company in that regard.

"Obviously I've had a great time," said Cichy, a senior guard from Somerset. "I love being here. I love our coaches. I love our team. I love my past teammates. But I don't think I'd be fulfilled."

This from an enterprising former walk-on whose energetic, no-nonsense style earned her immediate minutes as a freshman in 2012-13 and ultimately made her a consistent starter and scorer for the Badgers last season as a junior.

But Cichy has issues with the big picture of her career and, for that matter, so do her fellow seniors: guards Nicole Bauman and Dakota Whyte and forward Michala Johnson.

All four have experienced individual successes over the years, but they've not yet experienced a winning season as a team.

The first of Wisconsin coach Bobbie Kelsey's recruiting classes is 31-58 overall and 11-39 in the Big Ten Conference heading into its fourth and final regular-season opener Saturday vs. Louisiana Tech at the Kohl Center.

There's a belief among the four that all those growing pains are due to pay off this season.

"We have all the tools,'' said Whyte, a 5-8 point guard from Toronto, Ontario.

"Our last couple seasons weren't the best, but we've slowly been improving," said Johnson, a 6-3 forward from Bellwood, Illinois. "We want to take the things we did in the past and just try to work our way up and dig ourselves out of the hole."

Bauman, a 5-10 shooting guard from New Berlin, said there's no grand objective in mind – for now – other than building on the past and the moment at hand.

"We want to start with smaller goals and build on those goals,'' she said. "Obviously we want to get there (win a Big Ten title), but we want to take it more slowly."

Bauman, Whyte and Cichy were the top-three scorers for the Badgers last season at 15.3, 11.1 and 9.6 points per game, respectively. All three had at least one Big Ten outing with 20 or more with Bauman accounting for 31 points – including a school-record eight three-pointers – vs. Ohio State.

Everyone is anxious for Johnson, the one-time transfer from Connecticut, to bring her considerable game to that mix. She was an All-Big Ten first-team selection in 2013-14 when she led Wisconsin in scoring at 16.1 and ranked second in rebounds per outing at 7.3.    

But after scoring in double-digits five times of the first six games last season, Johnson suffered a torn anterior cruciate ligament in her left knee vs. Miami (Fla.) and missed the rest of the season.

Johnson insists she's good to go, but has been monitored closely in practice and sat out two exhibition games leading up to the 2 p.m. opener vs. Tech. It wouldn't be a surprise if she got one more game off before Drake comes to the Kohl Center for a 7 p.m. tip Wednesday.

How important is Johnson to this equation?

"One of the most important keys that we have," Whyte said. "Her being out? That's like losing 20 to 25 points a game right there."

Johnson, a graduate student with a degree in human development and family studies, spends part of her time now doting over younger sister and teammate Malayna. A 6-4 junior center, Malayna will miss the upcoming season with a torn ACL of her own.

The elder Johnson – everybody on the team calls her Mickey – smiled when asked if all the misfortune she's seen with the Badgers is about to turn.

"We've been in the trenches quite some time now, so I feel as though this year could be our year," she said.

Where would you find the pulse of this team? Johnson is a logical choice given her maturity – at 24 she's at least three years older than anyone and else on the team – but you could also try the apartment shared by Bauman, Cichy and Whyte.

"If it's possible I think we're all one heartbeat together in terms of we all bring something different," Cichy said.

"In terms of heartbeat, we all have our moments. I don't think it will be possible to have just one of us and make it work."

Bauman, who set a school record by hitting 48.8 percent of her 3-point tries last season, said the three friends and roommates motivate one another every day.

"We all kind of build off each other, I think," she said. "Watching Tessa go hard makes me want to go hard."

The Badgers went 1-12 on the road in 2012-13, lost eight straight to close out 2013-14 and had two lengthy losing streaks last year minus Johnson. Was there a low point? Whyte used a broad brush stroke to identify it.

"Not fulfilling the potential we knew we had," she said.

Now that potential is brimming with confidence.

"What's nice is we have a lot more experience on the court," Bauman said.

"We have the athleticism to do things we haven't done before," Whyte said. "We have the personnel to do things we haven't done before. It has to be greater than it has been my first three years here."

Cichy, whose younger brother Jack is a sophomore inside linebacker for the Wisconsin football team, said the overall chemistry within the women's basketball team is the best she's seen it.

"It's been amazing to see," she said.

"They're like my little sisters," Michala Johnson said. "We all have each other's back. We try to help each other even when we come at each other. It might seem kind of mean and kind of hard, but we know it's coming from a good place. We want to make each other better."

Cichy said the seniors have waited four years to have a directive voice on where the program is headed.

"I don't feel like I've had enough of a say and I think that's how we all feel," she said. "That we haven't left enough of a mark on the program for it to be okay with us leaving it how it is now.

"The legacy we kind of want to pass down is that you don't give up. You may not be the most talented. You may not be the best shooter or the best defender. But you can be good at all of them if you work hard. That's what we want to leave."

Johnson plans to do her part.

"I want to give it my all," she said. "I want to go out with a big bang."