College basketball coaches nationwide know February is an important measuring stick of a team's success.
Although the season schedule is shrinking, the Wisconsin women's basketball team, head coach Lisa Stone knows her team is playing well when it counts.
The bottom line is we've got to continue to play good basketball at the right time of the year,"" Stone said. ""And I'm encouraged by that. Our kids, they're all in the boat. They're all with us. They're all continuing to fight.""
Her Badgers will look to keep up the battle as they welcome Illinois to the Kohl Center Thursday night.
Wisconsin (4-8 Big Ten, 11-11 overall) suffered a 64-54 loss in Champaign, Ill., last December after a miserable start. Falling behind 27-13 to the Illini, Wisconsin's poor 32 percent shooting from the field was not enough to pick up the road win.
Senior guard Janese Banks led the Badgers with 15 points against Illinois last time out. Senior guard Jolene Anderson, who leads the conference in scoring with 20.9 points per game, was held to just 10.
Illinois (6-7, 14-10) is led by sophomore center Jenna Smith, who scored a game-high 16 points against the Badgers at Assembly Hall. Smith currently averages 18 points per game, second only to Wisconsin's Anderson.
Thursday's matchup marks the start of a 10-day span in which Wisconsin will play four of its last six conference games. Stone feels this could be an amiable schedule for the team's overall focus.
""Next week, we play Monday, Wednesday, Saturday - quick, quick turnarounds due to TV - that our kids are excited to play,"" Stone said. ""They're thankful we don't have any more byes. That's a long week of practice when you have a bye week.""
Before Sunday's stinging home loss to No. 23 Ohio State, the Badgers had won three of their last four games and had shaken off the shooting woes. Stone knows Wisconsin has all the right ingredients to make a run to the annual Big Ten Tournament in Indianapolis.
""I like our situation in terms of going into the Big Ten Tournament,"" Stone said. ""As long as we continue to take care of each game as it comes, build momentum, play the right and strong kind of basketball at the end of the year, [we'll] go into that Big Ten Tournament and make some noise.""
Ten teams are jostling for position in the race to Indy. Wisconsin, currently in a tie for ninth place, is just 5.5 games behind surprise Big Ten leader Iowa.
""This team, and the way this year's been, the Big Ten Tournament is going to be crazy,"" Stone said.
