Wisconsin women’s basketball (1-0 overall) opened its regular season Sunday afternoon at home against the Drake Bulldogs.
The Badgers were 2-0 in exhibition matches, scoring 80 points in both contests and winning by an average margin of 30 points.
Another solid defensive performance propelled the Badgers past Drake, 66-41.
Drake (1-1) was only able to score 14 first-half points, making it hard to compete against the high-scoring Wisconsin offense.
Sophomore guard Dakota Whyte was the leading scorer in the contest, finishing with 18 points. By driving the ball, Whyte was able to provide an offensive spark for the Badgers when they needed it the most.
“I don’t feel any pressure out there, [head coach Bobbie Kelsey] knows how well I can play. I feel like I worked hard this offseason and I’ve been waiting to fill the point guard role for a year now,” Whyte said.
Another strong performance by junior forward Michala Johnson continues to solidify her presence in the post. She finished the game with 16 points and 16 rebounds, leading to her first double-double as a Badger.
Kelsey explained how Johnson was able to score the Badgers first eight points of the game.
“When Michala is in the paint one on one, no one can stop her. Once Drake figured that out, the double team seemed to work,” Kelsey said.
Johnson was a strong contributor to the Badgers’ impressive 34 points in the paint.
It was an historic day for senior guard Taylor Wurtz, as she became the 20th woman in Badger history to score 1,000 career points.
Wurtz needed just five points entering today’s game to reach the 1,000-point mark. She finished the game with 13 points on 4-of-11 shooting from the field.
Taylor sat out all of last season with a lower back injury, but that is not slowing her down this season. If Wurtz isn’t scoring and assisting like she usually does, she still proves herself as a leader and a captain day in and day out.
Wurtz explained the milestone and her mentality going into today’s game.
“It is already one of the most memorable games in my career. I wasn’t thinking about the milestone before the game because getting a win is more important. However when I scored my fifth point of the game, I knew I had done something special,” Wurtz said.
Drake’s head coach Jennie Baranczyk was disappointed in her team’s lack of ability to shoot Sunday. Coming off a big win against Creighton, Baranczyk explained that her team had good looks but the shots weren’t falling. She also explained how tough Johnson’s height was to defend.
“If you look at the rebound totals, you can see that we were outmatched inside the paint. Michala’s height was detrimental for our rebounding because we don’t have any players even close to as tall as her. She’s already a proven scorer and rebounder,” Baranczyk said.
The Badgers take on Milwaukee this Thursday in the first away game of the season. This will be the first regular season game for the Panthers, who are 1-0 in exhibition play.
