As sophomore Jolene Anderson approaches the 1,000 point mark for her young career of only 57 games, accolades continue to come her way. The 5'8'' sparkplug for the women's basketball team was named second team All-Big Ten by the coaches and media panels Tuesday.
'It's a tremendous honor, being only my second year in the Big Ten conference,' Anderson said. 'It's an honor that I'll take in stride and like every honor that I get I'll think about it after the season.'
'To be honored on the Second-team All-Conference is certainly great credit to her and her teammates,' head coach Lisa Stone said. 'She's a completely different player than last year, her all-around game has elevated.'
Her all-around game has elevated, indeed. Anderson is top 10 in the Big Ten in five different categories, including points, assists, rebounds, 3-pointers and even steals. Her defense has become one of her strongest suits, as Anderson might be the best shut-down defender on the Badger team.
'I think the defensive side of her game is an amazing difference from one year to the next,' Stone said. 'Her weak-side defense is amazing [and] she's great on the double team. Her perimeter defense and lateral movement has improved this year [and] a lot has to do with obviously her conditioning and her maturity as a young player.'
Although Anderson has always been a tough player, her tenacity this season has been upped to an entirely new level. Diving for loose balls, fighting for rebounds all these things help drive Jolene and her teammates to succeed. In fact, much of their better play in the last three weeks can be credited to scrappy play, as they outrebounded a tough Purdue team by 14 on Sunday, nearly pulling off a huge upset.
'She's just an amazing player. She really is,' Stone said. 'She just gets better all the time and I'm blessed to be able to coach her.'
'She's a terrific player, a team player,' sophomore Janese Banks said. 'She's all about hoping the team just wins. I'm very excited that we're on the same team.'
If the Badgers are to make a serious run in the Big Ten tournament, they need Anderson to be at her absolute best. If she can get on a roll, even the great Ohio State can seem vulnerable.
Banks was left off the coaches' All-Big Ten teams, but made the media's list as an honorable mention. UW's second leading scorer missed five games this season with a left foot injury. Though Banks asserts that being left off the list was not important to her, she asserted that her health may have had something to omission.
'It's not about me right now. I missed half the season, so I really wasn't expecting much,' Banks said. 'But I'm proud of the way our team is finishing the season.'
