To the surprise of many Big Ten fans, the Wisconsin women's basketball team fizzled to begin the Big Ten campaign, managing a record of just 1-6. After all, this was the team that nearly won the WNIT championship last year and lost nobody to graduation.
The dismal start to the 2007-'08 campaign thus caused a change in the season outlook - what was once the approach of the hare has shifted to the view of the tortoise.
There's still room to get the things done we want to get done,"" Stone said. ""That's the feel that I have ... it's one of those years that I want to believe that it's not how we started, but it's how we're going to finish.""
Although still in 10th place halfway through the conference schedule, last week's successful two-game home stand has thrown the preseason title contenders back into the wallows of conference play.
More importantly, Wisconsin, just four games back from conference leader and No. 19 Ohio State, is arguably the hottest team in the league.
""I want to send Jolene, Janese and Danielle Ward out with a trip to the NCAA Tournament,"" Stone said. ""I really do. I want that for them. And our team wants that for them. So we strive every day to get better. And right now I'm seeing, it's like the ice broke, and we've started to sail.""
Senior captains Janese Banks and Jolene Anderson have predictably fulfilled their roles as experienced four-year starting guards. And although senior forward Danielle Ward has played well all season, she has been prone to fouls, leaving a void inside.
In the recent wins over Penn State and Northwestern it has been the support players that stepped up, including the post player off the bench lacking since Stone's tenure began.
It took a breakout game against perennial powerhouse Ohio State for freshman forward Lin Zastrow to finally come into her own down low. The 2007 Wisconsin AP Player of the Year and Wisconsin Miss Basketball has averaged 13 points and five rebounds in 24 minutes a game in the three contests since that game in Columbus, Ohio.
""There's certainly some confidence in the locker room right now,"" Stone said following Sunday's win against Northwestern. ""There's been some resurgence in some of our young freshmen, namely Lin Zastrow. It gives us another inside focus.""
Now all Zastrow and her fellow Badgers need to do is take a lesson from Aesop and make the steady trek toward the NCAA tournament.
