After a 16-day break and a first-round bye, the Wisconsin women's basketball team (20-12) kept its WNIT championship hopes alive by defeating Arkansas State (21-13) in the second round Sunday night at the Kohl Center 77-45. Junior sensation Jolene Anderson scored a game-high 30 points, a career best for the guard. Anderson also set the UW single-season scoring record by topping 601 points, previously set by alumna Barb Franke in 1996.
Anderson led her team to an explosive start as the team scored more than 30 points within the first 10 minutes of play, leading 33-9. Even with this comfortable lead, the team did not slow down or turn down the intensity. During one of the Lady Indians' inbound plays under their own basket, Anderson deflected the ball and leaped into the Wisconsin bench to save it. During that same possession, Anderson dove into the media bench to save the ball yet again.
Wisconsin head coach Lisa Stone acknowledged her team's defensive efforts and was impressed by Anderson's hustle throughout the game, especially her ""acrobatic dives out-of-bounds.""
""Those are hustle points. They're not the headlines of the paper and probably should be,"" Stone said. ""You've got one of your best players flying around on defense and not looking at the scoreboard, just playing hard. And when you can continue to play hard, regardless of the score, it transcends for the rest of the team.""
Arkansas State struggled against the solid Wisconsin defense as it was forced into 17 turnovers prior to halftime. Anderson led all scores with 22 points and four steals at half as Wisconsin went into the locker room with a 51-18 lead, shooting 58.8 percent from the floor. Junior guard Janese Banks also scored all 13 of her points in the first half of play.
In the second half, the Lady Indians improved their ball control and shooting percentage, committing only seven turnovers and going 12-for-30 from the field (40 percent) compared to their 31.8 first-half percentage. Even though Arkansas State more closely matched Wisconsin in the second half, the damage was already done.
""I think Wisconsin, in every aspect of the game, was a step quicker than we were,"" Arkansas State head coach Brian Boyer said. ""When things got going the wrong direction, they just went the wrong direction in a hurry.""
Anderson scored her 30th point with 5:29 left on the clock and finished with seven steals. Freshman point guard Rae Lin D'Alie scored in double-figures with 11 points and threaded the needle with seven assists. The Badgers shot 38.5 percent from the field in the second half and went 13-of-17 from the charity stripe on the game.
Senior center Adrianne Davie led Arkansas State with 18 points. Wisconsin was able to hold senior guard Rudy Sims to only two points, well below her season average.
""We didn't know if we were going to make a postseason tournament, but when we were off for 16 days, our team kept plugging along. We stayed determined,"" Anderson said.
""I think we are playing our best basketball right now and to be playing in March is awesome,"" Stone said. ""It's a great feeling, there is a new sense of energy, we look fresh and it carried over.""
Wisconsin will host their third round game of the WNIT on Thursday evening at the Kohl Center.
The Badgers are excited about the possibility of hosting some, if not all of their postseason games at the Kohl Center. ""It's just a great feeling to run out to thousands of Wisconsin fans just knowing they got your back no matter what,"" D'Alie said.
