Another win, another step into uncharted territory for UW head coach Lisa Stone and her young Badger team. Fueled by an impressive rebounding performance, the Wisconsin women's basketball team defeated Kentucky 67-61 Thursday night at the Kohl Center to advance to the WNIT quarterfinal round on Sunday.
Coming into the night, the Wildcats had averaged a plus-5.5 rebounding margin against their opponents this year. Kentucky senior forward Jennifer Humphrey had averaged double-digit rebound totals in the last four games for Kentucky. But in Thursday's game, it was the Badgers who crashed the boards and out-rebounded the Wildcats 54 to 35. Junior guard Janese Banks reeled in a game-high 13 boards, including seven on the offensive glass. She complemented her impressive defense with a 16-point performance.
""I did realize [that Kentucky guard Carly Ormerod] was guarding me, and I knew I had a little size on her,"" Banks said. ""So I felt that if I continued to crash the boards, she would have to concentrate on boxing me out, and if she was boxing me out, it would allow my teammates other opportunities.""
Despite the defensive advantage and a Badger lead for almost all of the first half, Kentucky did make a run in the second half and took a 55-54 lead over the Badgers with only 3:01 left to play. But UW fought back with a strong 8-0 run to pull ahead 62-55. The late surge was the defining moment of the game, and Stone commended her team for its stalwart recovery.
""They didn't flinch,"" Stone said. ""That's the biggest thing, without any seniors. [Banks, junior guard Jolene Anderson, and junior forward Danielle Ward] are our seniors. I'm sitting here with our three oldest players, and they led this team.
""No one was rattled, our timeouts were very confident, we wanted to enter the game knowing we were going to win,"" Stone added.
The second win in the WNIT Tournament also tied a few records for the Badgers. Wisconsin is 21-12 on the season and has tied the school record for most wins in a season and most home victories in a season. The second postseason win also extends Stone's postseason record at Wisconsin to a perfect 2-0. This is the first time since becoming head coach in 2003 that Stone has ever taken her team to a postseason tournament.
""It feels great,"" Stone said of her team's success in the postseason. ""This is the time of the year that you want to be playing your best basketball, and I really believe we are. The team is together, they're happy ... This young team has endured a long season, and it's something that for all of them we want to continue to have each year.""
