A stingy defense by the home Badgers stifled visiting Drake Thursday night at the Kohl Center, as the Wisconsin women's basketball team picked up a 55-39 win.
I can't say enough about our intensity defensively, we did a very nice job,"" head coach Lisa Stone said. ""Offensively as well, we spaced [the floor] used each other and touched the post.""The first win is good and we're a much different team than we were the other night.""
After a poor showing against South Dakota State, Wisconsin (1-1) answered assistant coach Kathi Bennett's call to revamp the defensive effort. The Badgers were able to put heavy pressure on the Drake guards, disrupting the Bulldogs'
offensive flow.
Wisconsin held Drake (1-1) to just 14 first half points and all of its players to single figure scoring.
The Badgers, meanwhile, were led by junior Rae Lin D'Alie's 13 points and three steals. Sophomores Lin Zastrow and Alyssa Karel tallied 11 points, with freshman Anya Covington adding seven points off the bench.
Karel got things started with a 3-pointer on UW's first possession. Karel and Zastrow picked up a block apiece on the ensuing defensive possession and D'Alie turned it into a layup on the other end.
Although the Badgers turned the ball over nine times in the first half and started 4-for-14 from the floor, their defense was equally effective in creating havoc for the Bulldogs. Drake managed a meager 14 first half points on 27 percent shooting to accompany 11 turnovers
""I thought we did a decent job defensively throughout the whole game,"" Stone said. ""And that's going to help us win a lot of games this year.""
The Badgers used a 13-3 run to take all the momentum into the locker room at halftime, capped by a pull-up three from D'Alie.
Drake knew coming into the matchup that Wisconsin's size posed a potential problem for its defense, but it wasn't until the second half that the difference became apparent.
""We felt that that size would be the significant difference,"" Drake head coach Amy Stephens said. ""Against us we anticipated that, in the second half we just did not effectively get their post players to the first and second peg off the sweet spot.""
Wisconsin was able to work the ball through the post that period, with the trio of Zastrow, Steinbauer and Covington getting important touches and crashing the glass.
""I thought Steinbauer and Zastrow did a nice job burying us,"" Stephens said.
One factor that coach Stone knows needs improvement is the team's poor outing from the free-throw stripe. Monday against South Dakota State, the Badgers shot 33 percent on 5-for-15 shooting, followed by a 10-for-22 outing at the line tonight.
""The one thing that is still looming is our free throw shooting,"" Stone said. ""We need to improve on our free throw shooting, no question.""
Wisconsin will not have much time to work out the kinks at the line, as the Badgers are set to host Canisius Sunday afternoon. Yet Stone is optimistic about this year's squad in particular.
""We don't have a lot of time between a lot of games the rest of the way through December,"" Stone said. ""It's a great team, very coachable. They want to be taught and they're willing to learn and they're great to work with.""
The Badgers will look to go 2-for-2 at home this season, hosting the Griffins Sunday afternoon at 1:30 p.m. at the Kohl Center.
