Overshadowed this week by a potential Big Ten Championship from the UW men's basketball team, the UW women's basketball team will be competing in the Big Ten Tournament for some of that same glory.
The annual tourney will be held at the Conseco Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, commencing on Mar. 6 and closing with the championship game on Mar. 10.
UW (5-11 Big Ten, 7-20 overall) has nabbed the ninth seed and will face the eighth seeded, defending Big Ten Champion Indiana Hoosiers (5-11, 12-14) at 2 p.m. on Mar. 6.
The Badgers split their series against Indiana this year, winning in Bloomington and losing at the Kohl Center.
\We need to execute well and stick to our game plan,"" sophomore forward Ebba Gebisa said. ""That's what allowed us to beat [Indiana] in front of a huge crowd.""
Led by Head Coach Jane Albright, in what could be her final game at UW, the Badgers are headed into what they know will be an important and emotional game. Gebisa said she believes that this contest will have added emotion, but not added pressure.
Albright said she disagreed.
""All the emotion was last week,"" Albright said. ""This is just getting down to business.""
Although No. 14 Penn State (13-3, 23-7) holds the top seed, there is not an obvious favorite to win the Big Ten Tournament. The No. 13 Minnesota Golden Gophers (12-4, 23-4) at the second seed and the No. 12 Purdue Boilermakers (12-4, 23-5) at the third seed are both looking for revenge against the Lions. Both teams split their series against Penn State this year and Minnesota beat Purdue in their only meeting this season.
The reward of an automatic berth to the NCAA Tournament will most certainly make teams on the bubble and teams with no shot at making the tourney more aggressive.
This tournament will definitely not be a walk in the park for Penn State. Based upon their performances this season, the NCAA will most likely award four or five Big Ten teams invitations to the tourney. Penn State, Purdue and Minnesota are definite shoo-ins for the Tournament, leaving Michigan State (10-6, 17-10), Ohio State (10-6, 19-8) and Illinois (9-7, 17-10) as hopefuls.
Multiple victories or a championship this weekend are vital for these teams' postseason aspirations.
