As the Badger women's basketball team (5-10 Big Ten, 11-16 overall) takes its late season bye to prepare for its last game before the Big Ten tournament, the players seem to finally be putting all the pieces of the puzzle together. UW has scored three crucial conference victories in its last four games, including a sensational win Sunday against border rival Minnesota.
'I think over the last two weeks we've really been putting some things together,' Wisconsin head coach Lisa Stone said. 'Practices have been very focused. I think an understanding of roles has taken hold.'
The seniors hope this momentum will help them come up big this weekend when they battle a strong Purdue team (12-2, 21-4) on Senior Night in the final home appearance of their collegiate careers. Guard Ashley Josephson, forward Jordan Wilson, and forwards Annie Nelson and Kjersten Bakke will all take to the court for the last time in the Kohl Center riding the emotional high that seems to have taken hold of the team in the second half of the season. In a press conference following Sunday's win over Minnesota, Josephson said that she and the three other seniors have never felt anything like this throughout their entire careers at Wisconsin.
'I was touched, I think, by her emotion after the game,' Stone said of Josephson. 'I mean, she fought back tears because she's not felt that type of experience that we had [on Sunday] and I'm happy for them. I'm just so pleased for our seniors, that they're tasting some success and hopefully feel that they've got an input of where this program wants to go.'
Josephson and the other seniors will all start in Sunday night's game as Wisconsin and Purdue jockey for position in the conference leading into the tournament. They'll have to put on a good display to keep Purdue's 6'4\ freshman guard Danielle Campbell and 6'3"" sophomore guard Natasha Bogdanova from having a major impact on the game. The Badgers should also watch out for junior guard Katie Gearlds, who scored an astonishing 32 points in the Boilermakers' loss to Indiana Sunday night.
'Coming in here off a loss to a team that's coming off a couple wins, that will bode well for a great environment,' Stone said. 'The crowd [on Sunday] was electric and we hope to have them back for our last home game.'
