As the Big Ten Tournament draws near, the Wisconsin women's basketball team will look to boost its resume when it hosts Indiana (8-6 Big Ten, 15-8 overall) in a Monday night showdown at the Kohl Center.
Wisconsin (5-9, 15-10) is fresh off a 58-52 home win over Penn State last Thursday and head coach Lisa Stone knows wins are especially important around this time of the year.
Hopefully this will be the game that jump-starts us, that breaks us through the ice and we get rolling into the tournament,"" Stone said following the defeat of the Nittany Lions.
The Badgers have collected some signature wins, including over current No. 7 Baylor and two teams who are receiving votes in the latest AP poll in Minnesota and UW-Green Bay.
But there is still much work to be done for the Cardinal and White.
Left on the 2009 regular season slate are Indiana, Iowa, Michigan State and Ohio State - teams against which Wisconsin has a combined 0-4 record so far this season.
Also most notably on each of those teams is the presence of All-Big Ten caliber post players, including Indiana's hometown senior All-American candidate Whitney Thomas.
After a breakout performance from Wisconsin sophomore forward Tara Steinbauer last Thursday in which she recorded her first career double-double with 16 points and 10 rebounds, the Badgers know the play of their ""bigs"" need to act as such down the stretch.
""For every game for us, post play is a huge factor,"" Steinbauer said. ""I think recently we've been working on our communication '¦ and I think if we keep working on that every day in practice, we're going to lock down on the post players and hopefully it will show in the games.""
""Echoing Tara, it comes down to every day in practice,"" fellow UW sophomore forward Lin Zatrow said. ""So when it comes down to the games, we do it right because every team has good post players.""
Indiana boasts a pair of powerful forwards in Thomas and 6'2"" senior Amber Jackson. Jackson leads the Hoosiers with 13 points per game while Thomas averages 12.5 points and nine rebounds for Indiana. Thomas led the Hoosiers to victory, scoring 19 points and 11 rebounds in the latest UW/IU matchup.
Sophomore Jori Davis scored 18 points and Marshfield, Wis., native and Indiana junior Jamie Braun scored 14 en route to a 64-61 Hoosier victory at Assembly Hall just over one month ago.
Indiana, after jumping out to a 7-1 record to start the Big Ten season, has faltered as of late, losing four straight and five of its last six. The Hoosiers looked poised to qualify for its first NCAA tournament since 2002, but are now in desperate need of wins - wins Wisconsin needs just as much.
Game time for the Hoosier/Badger matchup is set for 7 p.m. and will air live on the Big Ten Network.
