It has been three years since the Wisconsin women's basketball team has participated in postseason play aside from the Big Ten Tournament, a period during which the Badgers rarely have played a \meaningful"" game. The demons of the previous three years may be forgotten Thursday as the Badgers (3-7 Big Ten, 9-11 overall) try to inch ever closer toward the .500 mark when Illinois (5-6, 13-8) invades the Kohl Center.
The Badgers are coming off an impressive 88-78 road victory Sunday over then-No. 25 Iowa. With a victory against Illinois, Wisconsin can claim its first winning streak since mid-December.
""Going with confidence and being on your home court with your home fans [helps],"" junior forward Annie Nelson said. ""We have some great teams coming in here and it's going to be a great battle but these are games that we will win. It's a different presence that we bring at the Kohl Center.""
Although it may be premature to talk about the NCAA Tournament for the Badgers, head coach Lisa Stone and the rest of her squad know the Women's National Invitational Tournament (WNIT) is well within reach. A .500 record or better would garner a good argument for the Badgers first tournament appearance since the 2001-'02 season.
As if a possible tournament bid is not enough motivation for the Badgers, revenge is fresh on the minds of Wisconsin, who fell 79-66 to the Illini in Champaign earlier this season. Senior forward Angelina Williams destroyed the Badgers with 28 points in that contest.
""Some of the shots [Williams] took were unstoppable,"" Rich said, who matched up with Williams the last time the teams met. ""I mean fade-away jumpers and we know we aren't going to stop her, but if we can contain her we will be just fine. She can just finish really well, probably one of the best finishers in the Big Ten. She is just a fantastic player.""
Coach Stone and the Badgers believe they are a different team than when the two squads faced off in January. UW had a team meeting following their loss at Illinois to discuss the early season struggles, but have won three of five since then.
""We benefited from our last game there and we can demonstrate that here,"" Stone said. ""I hope that I can look back and that was [a turning point]. I think it has spearheaded some better practices and I think it was instrumental in our win at Iowa that we could dig down deep,"" Stone said. ""We talked about overcoming adversity and right now you can think of the next game as a challenge and a challenge that we need to take care of at home.""
