The Wisconsin women's basketball team will look to carry the momentum of three straight wins at home against in-state rival UW-Green Bay, Tuesday at the Kohl Center.
Sunday, the 5-3 Badgers topped the Air Force 74-60, in a game that was delayed because the Falcons' flight was canceled due to harsh weather conditions in Colorado.
Senior forward Danielle Ward led UW with 14 points, her season high. She also had a career high of five steals.
Ward played well, to be assigned their toughest player, to come in and not be in foul trouble in the game and, in fact, maybe that's what we need to do, give her the toughest player,"" UW head coach Lisa Stone said.
Senior guard Janese Banks, freshman post Tara Steinbauer and senior guard Jolene Anderson racked up 13 points each Sunday. For Anderson, 13 points is sub-par, as her season average 21.3 points puts her in the top-10 of the NCAA.
The Badgers hit a season high 69 percent of their 3-pointers Sunday, making 9-of-13. They also made a season best 15-of-18 free throws and garnered 12 steals as a team.
""Our defense has to step up."" Stone said. ""We need to be better on-the-ball defenders. But probably the biggest improvement too is that we're finding scoring from other places.""
The Badgers are 16-7 all time against UW-Green Bay, and Wisconsin fell to the Phoenix 70-66 last year.
Green Bay, under new head coach Matt Bollant, is 4-2 and defeated Kansas State 68-56 last week. Last year, Green Bay advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
UW sophomore guard Rae D'Alie will go toe-to-toe with Green Bay's junior field general Kati Harty.
""Harty is a great point guard, very quick,"" Stone said. ""It'll be a nice matchup with her and Rae. She'll push the tempo. She runs the show. She's the engine of that team.""
Senior Kayla Groh and junior Rachel Porath, both guards, are Green Bay's leading scorers, averaging 14.7 and 13.7 points per game, respectively.
Compared to opponents, Green Bay has been weak at rebounding, but efficient at 3-pointers.
""Drive, draw and dish - that's their offense. [They'll] try to crash the boards hard, and then disrupt you offensively,"" Stone said. ""We have got to bring our lunch pail, go to work, and outwork this team, because they're well coached and they're carrying on that same tradition that Kevin [Borseth] instilled while he was there.""
The game will be televised live on the Big Ten Network 7 p.m. Tuesday.
- uwbadgers.com contributed to this report.
