The Lady Badgers are quietly putting together one of the best seasons in Wisconsin women's basketball history. At 14-5 they are off to the best start under coach Lisa Stone and are building a solid resume for the NCAA tournament. The Badgers have already pulled off a ten-game winning streak this season, including a win over then-No. 6 Baylor in the Paradise Jam final.
Over the winter break, the Lady Badgers were busy with the start of the Big Ten schedule. They defeated Minnesota, Michigan and swept the season series against Illinois, finishing them off last Sunday.
Heading into the Bryce Jordan Center tonight to face Penn State, the Badgers have a 4-4 record in conference play, and with a win they will be a game away from equaling their overall win total from last season.
The loss of last year's leading scorer, Jolene Anderson, has caused a shift in the distribution of scoring this year. Sophomore guard Alyssa Karel leads the team, averaging 13.2 points, and is the only Badger averaging double digits. Karel is lights-out from behind the arc, shooting almost 40 percent, and also leads the team with 34 three-point field goals made. She is a big reason why Wisconsin is second in the Big Ten behind Minnesota in three-point field goal percentage at 36.6.
Following the game against Illinois, UW head coach Lisa Stone was very happy with the Badgers' performance on both sides of the ball.
Defensively we were solid,"" Stone said. ""We took care of the basketball. We found scoring from a lot of people and I sure liked the way Alyssa [Karel] came out to start the game. She was on fire and it was just an outstanding performance by our entire team.""
The Badgers will be challenged by the aggressive defense of Penn State. The Nittany Lions lead the Big Ten in steals, averaging over nine per game, but Wisconsin holds the edge defensively as they lead the conference in scoring defense, only allowing 54.2 points a game, which is good enough for 21st in the nation.
The game at Penn State will be the first since the beginning of the semester, and Stone thinks the team is ready to get back into their normal schedule.
""I think our players have enjoyed the month off as far as classes go, but getting back into a regular routine will be nice,"" Stone said. ""Going to Penn State, we found a way to get [a win] last year and we hope to carry that on.""
Along with Karel, the Badgers hope to continue to get production from junior guard Teah Gant. She had a season-high 17 points against a tough Minnesota team and added 11 points with six rebounds against the Illini Sunday.
""Teah [Gant] just gets better all the time. She's got a calmness about her offensively and she's got a tenacity defensively with her length that really is very valuable to us,"" Stone said.
Following the game against Penn State, Wisconsin will head to Michigan State to face the Spartans Jan. 25 before returning home to battle Purdue Jan. 29.
- uwbadgers.com contributed to this report.
