After winning both Big Ten games since classes resumed last week, the Wisconsin women's basketball team is looking to continue its Big Ten recovery against Indiana Thursday.
The Badgers are 10-9 overall with a 3-6 conference record after defeating both Penn State and Northwestern by more than 25 points at home last week.
Wisconsin carries momentum from Sunday's 75-45 win against Northwestern after dominating the game from tip-off, holding a 40-13 lead at halftime. UW made 48 percent of its field goals while Northwestern scored on only 29 percent. Senior guards Jolene Anderson and Janese Banks were the leading scorers, accumulating 24 and 15 points, respectively.
I've got a very confident team right now understanding that it starts on the defensive end,"" head coach Lisa Stone said.
The Hoosiers are ranked fifth in the Big Ten at 5-3 and lost to Michigan 65-54 last week. Indiana guards Jamie Braun and Kim Roberson and forwards Whitney Thomas and Amber Jackson have each averaged over 10 points per game this season. Thomas, a junior, was named Big Ten Player of the Week after snagging her 700th career rebound last week.
Although nearly half of the points scored by Wisconsin this season have been made by Anderson or Banks, freshman forward Lin Zastrow is becoming a major force on offense. Zastrow had her breakout game against Ohio State Jan. 20, and since then she has scored a season-high 16 points against Northwestern and is averaging 13 points in her last three games.
UW has beaten Indiana only twice in the 26 times they have faced off in Bloomington, Ind., and Stone said the key to stopping this trend is to get points on the board quickly.
""What has been our demise in the last few years down there is a slow start,"" Stone said. ""We've got to [be] able to score, able to get some early confidence, have a strong start.""
Stone said sophomore point guard Rae Lin D'Alie, the ""engine"" of the team according to Stone, has improved her jump shot and created more options for the Badger offense.
""A lot of teams, what they do because she's five-foot-three, is they back off her and limit her vision into the post,"" Stone said. ""So they back off with their hands up thinking she can't [go] inside, so she has to shoot that shot.""
After Indiana, UW will get another chance against most Big Ten rivals starting with a rematch against Penn State Sunday.
""This is a big week for us,"" Stone said. ""It's a big midpoint of the season where we can make some noise.""
- uwbadgers.com contributed to this report.
