Wisconsin women's basketball coach Lisa Stone addressed the media at Camp Randall on Monday. She focused on the Badgers' big win against Virginia on Sunday, as well as the Badgers upcoming game in the semifinals of the WNIT. As the Badgers' host Western Kentucky tomorrow night in the semis, they will look to continue the momentum from Sunday's emotional come-from-behind win.
The Badgers fought hard and overcame a 14-point deficit to beat the Cavaliers 84-78. During the press conference, Stone acknowledged the hard work of her young team and their intense drive.
""To be down 14 ... [To] execute down the stretch, get to the free throw line, take care of the basketball, play defense as we need to, we're excited about this."" she said.
UW's win Sunday set the record for most wins in a season by the program (22), and as Stone pointed out, this puts the team in some elite company.
""We have two games remaining, played at a very high level, you know, breaking record after record, and to be in the same sentence with men's basketball and football, and women's hockey in terms of school record wins in a year,"" she said. ""I'm very, very proud of our team for those accomplishments thus far.""
One reason for the Badger's success, both Sunday and during the season as a whole, has been the play of junior guard Jolene Anderson. She had a career-high 30 points against the Cavaliers and went 8-for-8 from the charity stripe during the game.
""The fact that Jolene is expected to do what she does and continues to do it, I think it's a great credit to her. The pressure has been on her, and she hasn't flinched,"" Stone said.
Her play, along with that of freshman guard Rae Lin D'Alie junior guard Janese Banks, and the versatility of freshman Teah Gant propelled the Badgers Sunday. Gant departed from her usual guard position to play point guard, and Stone said she liked what she saw.
""The fact that Teah can play [position] one, two or three and is very calm with the ball, she might be our second best ball handler on the team, and didn't flinch, didn't waver. She accepted the challenge, played with a lot of confidence,"" Stone added.
The Badgers will need top performances from these players, as well as the rest of the team, as they face off against forward Crystal Kelly and the rest of Western Kentucky. According to Stone, Kelly is ""the real deal."" Wisconsin's defense will have to shut her down if it wants to beat Kentucky.
""Ninety percent of their offensive scheme is to get the ball in to her,"" she said. ""She capitalizes tremendous shooters, 65 percent from the field, nearly 80 percent from the free throw line, and that offense goes to her, every single guard on the floor looks to her.""
The game will be held Wednesday at the Kohl Center at 7 p.m.
