Bobbie Kelsey makes her regular season debut as Wisconsin women’s basketball head coach Friday night as the Badgers head east to take on the UW-Milwaukee Panthers. Wisconsin will return to home this weekend with a Sunday afternoon game against Oral Roberts.
Wisconsin wrapped up its exhibition schedule this past Sunday with a convincing 66-33 victory over UW-Parkside at the Kohl Center.
“I think they played well together in these first two exhibition games,” Kelsey said. “The first one we had a lot of turnovers, but I think we fixed that in the second game. I’m glad we got pressed in the first game—it really showed what we had to work on.”
Kelsey is taking over a Wisconsin team that had a 2010-11 season best described as streaky. The inconsistent play led athletic director Barry Alvarez to make a coaching change away from former women’s basketball head coach Lisa Stone.
Wisconsin’s style of play will be dramatically different this year as Kelsey has installed a completely new system on both offense and defense. The offense will be significantly more up-tempo than it has been in years past, which is something that the players are certainly looking forward to.
“I love the fast pace,” senior forward Ashley Thomas said. “I love that we can get up in transition, push the ball, and look to sprint from rim to rim.”
Kelsey spent the last four seasons as an assistant coach at Stanford. The Cardinal reached the Final Four in all four seasons. Kelsey also advanced to the Final Four three times as a player at Stanford. Kelsey hopes to bring some of that success to a Wisconsin program that has never advanced past the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
“What we have right now is good enough,” Kelsey said. “We can win a lot with this group. They just have to believe that.”
UW-Milwaukee has a 1-20 all-time record against the Badgers and has never defeated them at home. Last season, Wisconsin defeated the Panthers 68-53 in Madison.
After the trip to Milwaukee, the Badgers return to the Kohl Center on Sunday to take on Oral Roberts in a matchup between two teams coming off of WNIT appearances in 2010. The Golden Eagles return all five starters from last season, so their experienced lineup could give the Badgers trouble.
Wisconsin has a hectic schedule to start the year, playing four games in a span of eight days. Senior forward Anya Covington thinks that the excitement of starting a new season should help keep the team focused and energized.
“The opportunity to be able to play should give you enough energy,” Covington said. “We just need to keep each other encouraged and know that it’s basketball season, so let’s go.”
Tonight’s game tips off at 7 p.m. at Milwaukee’s Klotsche Center. Sunday’s home opener against Oral Roberts is scheduled for 2 p.m. at the Kohl Center.
