Few individuals can say they ended their collegiate careers on a better note than Wisconsin women's hockey player Sara Bauer. The co-captain senior forward from St. Catherines, Ontario has left behind a legacy by establishing Wisconsin as a perennial powerhouse in the world of collegiate women's hockey.
This year, Bauer led the Badger women's hockey team to their second straight NCAA championship. Bauer was third on the team in goals scored with 24 goals on 118 shots. She led the team with 48 assists and 72 total points. In April the team named Bauer its Offensive Player of the Year.
As the 2006-'07 season approached, the Badger women's hockey team knew they had a definite chance to repeat their title. The squad held on to the No. 1 overall ranking in the USA Today women's hockey poll, losing only one game the entire season. In her final season at Wisconsin, Bauer scored the 200th goal of her career and set the Badger's all-time women's hockey scoring record.
But Bauer did not hog the spotlight by any means. The senior forward made excellent use of her fellow forwards, freshman Meghan Duggan and junior Jinelle Zaugg. The selfless Bauer led the team in assists with 48. Zaugg and Duggan went one and two in terms of scoring, in front of the multi-talented Bauer. She was also second on the team with a .203 shooting percentage.
Upon reaching the 2007 Frozen Four, the No. 1 Badgers breezed past St. Lawrence and Minnesota-Duluth to capture their second-straight national title. Bauer was named the 2007 Frozen Four Most Outstanding Player. The record-setting Bauer ended the season and her storied career on top of the women's college hockey world.
Honorable mention: Jolene Anderson
The Badgers women's basketball team can attribute much of its success in the 2006-'07 campaign to the play of junior guard Jolene Anderson. Anderson, a product of Port Wing, Wis., entered her junior year with high expectations—and lived up to the hype. Anderson led the Big Ten in conference scoring with 309 points and was named to the 2007 All Big Ten First Team.
Anderson showed her true athletic prowess in the Badgers' WNIT run. Anderson set the WNIT scoring record of 129 points and earned all-tournament honors, leading the Badgers to the championship round and scoring a game-high 21 points in their defeat at the hands of Wyoming.
