Wisconsin women's basketball head coach Lisa Stone spoke to the media Monday, addressing the recent success of her squad. Stone's Badgers have won four straight games and six of their last eight to jump back into the Big Ten conference race.
Stone said the recent success of the team is due mainly to the play of the seniors, who will appear in their last two regular-season games this week.
They've been with us for four years, through good times and bad,"" Stone said.
""They've endured. Each of them has a role, and I also think our entire team is understanding their roles. That's why we've played more consistent recently.
""I think our entire team is playing well, but right now our seniors are really playing their best basketball of their careers, and that makes my job a little bit easier,"" Stone said.
Seniors Jolene Anderson and Janese Banks have both etched their names in the Wisconsin record books, ranking in the top 10 in scoring. Although Anderson was awarded the most recent Big Ten Player of the Week honor, Stone knows the program's success relies heavily on both senior guards.
""It's been the Jo and Janese show for four years,"" Stone said. ""They both are very solid players, different players, but what Janese has given our team is some stability, some consistency. [She] works very, very hard, is very fundamental and right now is probably our best catch and shoot. When she's hot, she's hard to stop.""
Wisconsin (8-8 Big Ten, 15-11 overall) is arguably the hottest team in the Big Ten, but Stone said the rocky start of this year's campaign has the team well-prepared for its most recent accomplishments.
""We're on a streak right now,"" Stone said. ""From the tough overtime losses earlier in the season, we've learned, we've weathered the storm the best that we can and we're playing well at the right time of year. The bottom line is to stay consistent and continue to rely on our seniors and enjoy this moment. It feels good, certainly, but our work is not done yet.""
Wisconsin, at a .500 conference winning percentage for the first time this year, will travel to Michigan (9-7, 16-10) Thursday and host Iowa (11-5, 18-9) Sunday to cap off the regular season.
""There are two remaining games, [it] puts us in a position - a lot can happen with other teams in the league,"" Stone said. ""Things are flip-flopping.""
The race for positioning in the Big Ten tournament is tight. Wisconsin is one of five teams within one game of fourth place, and the jostling for seeds going into Indianapolis is as heated as ever.
""I do know that if we keep playing well, we've got tremendous momentum going into the Big Ten Tournament,"" Stone said. ""We've got good depth on our bench. The team is together. They're happy. They've endured it all.""
